Alright, alright internet — settle down. We’ve had our fun. We’ve imagined all the things that could have been going through Michelle Obama’s head on Trump’s inauguration day. We’ve memed the hell out of the gift-giving photos. Now it’s time to accept the truth.
The former first lady explained at the American Institute of Architects convention Monday that – though it really, really appeared so (and we loved it) – she actually was not trying to shade the Trump family on inauguration day.
Let’s quickly take a look at the not shade
the only good moment of this inauguration is michelle jim-facing the camera like "why did she give me this box" pic.twitter.com/WoGAWfKS0l
— jonny sun (@jonnysun) January 20, 2017
https://twitter.com/acidictly/status/822505349404119041
https://twitter.com/OfficeScenes/status/822526328394158081
So what was really going on?
The former FLOTUS explained that the beginning of the inauguration marked the final moments that her teenage daughters, Sasha and Malia, would have in the White House – the home in which they’ve largely grown up. Instead of shading Melania Trump’s oddly timed gift, Obama was simply trying to hold it together on a tough day for her family.
“That moment of transition, right before the doors opened and we welcomed in the new family,” Obama explained, “Our kids were leaving out the back door in tears, saying goodbye to people.”
“I didn’t want to have tears in my eyes because people would swear I was crying because of the new president,” Obama added. (She’s probably not wrong.)
Though the family was sad to leave their home of eight years, Obama heartbreakingly reiterated that she has no desire to run for office in 2020.
“I wouldn’t ask my children to do this again,” she said.
