Former first lady Michelle Obama will reportedly not publicly campaign for President Joe Biden’s second term, in part due to the Biden family’s treatment of her close friend, Kathleen Buhl, following her divorce from Hunter Biden, according to a new report.
Former President Barack Obama has openly endorsed Biden’s 2024 presidential campaign, but his wife has rarely attended these events. Her absence from major events, including Biden’s Hollywood fundraisers, is due to her frustration over the sitting president’s family’s ouster of Buhle, according to a new Axios report citing two sources familiar with the relationship.
Why is Michelle Obama avoiding Joe Biden’s 2024 presidential campaign?
In addition to the aforementioned reasons why the former First Lady is reportedly distancing herself, her “disdain for partisan politics” could be another reason why she has remained silent despite being one of the most popular voices in the Democratic caucus.
Also read | Biden vs. Trump debate: 8 key points likely to be discussed
While former President Obama has accompanied Biden on his reelection campaign, Axios reports that the relationship between the Obamas and Bidens changed in 2015, the same year that then-President Obama blocked Vice President Biden’s idea of running for president. Their contentious relationship ultimately led to Hunter Biden and Kathleen Buhl’s messy divorce in 2017.
So far, Obama has attended Biden’s 2024 campaign fundraisers alone, attended a state dinner for the Kenyan president at the White House in May and appeared alone in a video for the sitting president’s reelection campaign, while his popular wife has focused on the national, bipartisan “When We All Vote” initiative.
Michelle Obama and Kathleen Buhl’s friendship
Their close relationship dates back to the Obama administration. Plus, Hunter Biden, who has three children with his ex-wife, offered a glimpse into their close friendship in his memoir, claiming that the former first lady and Buhl “worked out together at the gym and often met for evening cocktails at both formal and informal White House events.” Meanwhile, the former first lady also mentioned Buhl in her 2022 book, saying, “My friend Katherine and I regularly have morning date nights for walks along the river.”
Also read | Boeing blames missing paperwork for Alaska Airlines crash, sparking dispute with NTSB
As for why Boulet and Hunter split, Boulet accused her ex-partner of cheating and squandering the family’s savings on drugs and prostitution. She was then reported to have received immense support from Michelle Obama’s company during the divorce proceedings. Recent reports also suggest that Michelle Obama has privately told others that Boulet believes he was wronged by the Bidens.
Officials deny feud between Michelle Obama and Biden family
Although First Lady Michelle Obama did not show up to recent Biden campaign events, her spokeswoman, Crystal Carson, asserted that she supports the president’s reelection, saying, “She is friends with Katherine and the Bidens. Two things are true.”
Similarly, White House press secretary Andrew Bates told Axios that “the Biden and Obama families are like family to each other, and anyone making these claims about that relationship doesn’t know much about it.”
