Michelle Obama explains why she controversially skipped Trump's inauguration following Barack divorce rumors

Michelle Obama has finally opened up on her reasoning for not attending Donald Trump's inauguration back in January, as she admitted people jumped to divorce rumors as a result.

The former first lady has a new podcast that she launched in March this year, and has had the likes of Seth Rogen, Tracee Ellis Ross and more as guests. And in her latest episode featuring Benjamin Button actor Teraji P. Henson, Michelle addressed her decision not to attend Trump’s inauguration on January 20, while her husband, Barack Obama, did.

This comes amid rumours that she and Barack may be getting a divorce, which have been fuelled since the beginning of the year when there were several political public appearances, including Trump's inauguration, which saw former president Barack attend without his wife.

Divorce rumours began at the start of the year ((Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images) )

At the time when the announcement was made that Michelle wouldn’t be attending the inauguration with her husband, the Obamas’ office released a statement reading: “Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies. Former First Lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration" without further explanation."

This marked an unusual break from tradition, as previous presidents usually attend inaugurations alongside their partners.

However, Michelle explained further the reason for this in her latest podcast episode, which was on the theme of burnout and boundaries.

She described her decision not to attend the ceremony as an act of self-care she is currently practicing: “I’m at this stage in life where I have to define my life on my terms for the first time. So what are those terms, and going to therapy just to work all that out?”

Michelle Obama says she chose peace over attending Trump's second inauguration (Marcus Ingram/Getty Images)

She continued: “And so practising no in a very different way intentionally. But then this is what makes it hard because… my decision to skip the inauguration… what people don’t realise… my decision to make choices at the beginning of this year that suited me were met with such ridicule and criticism.”

Addressing the rumours directly, she said: “People couldn’t believe that I was saying no for any other reason than they had to assume that my marriage was falling apart… while I'm here really trying to own my life and intentionally practice making the choice that was right for me.

"And it took everything in my power to not do the thing that was right or that was perceived as right, but do the thing that was right for me”.

Michelle has previously expressed her distaste for Trump as she has described him as 'a convicted felon, a known slumlord' and a 'predator found liable for sexual abuse'.

Although she has previously attended Trump’s first inauguration in 2020, she said: “To sit on that stage and watch the opposite of what we represented on display — there was no diversity, there was no colour on that stage, there was no reflection of the broader sense of America”.