Former President Barack Obama Reacts to Malia Obama Dropping Last Name Professionally
Malia Obama and Sasha Obama are still figuring out how to live in the spotlight.
While the daughters of Barack Obama and Michelle Obama have spent the majority of their lives in the public eye, there is a new aspect they’ve started dealing with as they’ve gotten older.
“There’s been some paparazzi stuff going on, and it drives them nuts,” the former president explained on the Oct. 29 episode of The Pivot Podcast, “because their attitude is, ‘We’re not looking for all that.'”
Still, he admires how Malia, 26, and Sasha, 23, have managed to remain “grounded” despite a less than normal childhood. And for that, he not only credits wife Michelle, but also the attitude of the White House press pool who kept the majority of their focus on him and not his daughters during his presidency.
“Growing up, the press was pretty good,” the 63-year-old said. “I basically made a deal with the press pool—the White House press core—I said, ‘You can follow me around. You can talk about me. You do whatever you need to do. Leave my children alone because they have the right to grow up. They didn’t choose this. Let them grow up.’ And to the credit of the press they did leave them alone.”
