Michelle Obama is seemingly sounding off on President Trump without naming him, saying that commanders in chief have to set “a standard” in the White House around accepting gifts.
“When you are the commander in chief, there’s a standard at which you have to set for the American people. And some of these things aren’t even laws — they’re just norms,” Obama said while speaking Wednesday at Sixth and I synagogue and arts center in Washington as part of a wide-ranging discussion to promote “The Look,” her new book with longtime stylist Meredith Koop.
“They’re just things that you do because you don’t want the people to feel like wealthy people have a different level of access and access to power,” Obama said.
“So that means you got to say ‘no’ a lot,” she said, before adding, “Our motto was: If it looks like fun, we can’t do it.”
The former first lady recounted that early in former President Obama’s political career, Oprah Winfrey mailed her a massive package as a thank-you gift following an interview.
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“[Winfrey] sends a box of then-Ralph Lauren’s first-edition clothing line. It was like three suits, seven sweaters. I mean, it was an Oprah-sized gift,” Obama said of the former talk show host’s present.
But Obama said her husband quickly told her, “You can’t keep that.”
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“He’s like, ‘I’m in office. We don’t accept gifts.’” Obama recalled, before quipping to the audience with a grin, “Imagine that?”
While Trump’s name was never mentioned throughout the conversation with New York Times critic-at-large Wesley Morris, Obama also weighed in on the demolition of the East Wing of the White House. The space, which housed the first lady’s office and other departments, was torn down last month to make way for the 47th president’s plan for a massive, privately funded ballroom.
Obama highlighted her and former President Obama’s approach to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., saying, “That was one of the things we wanted to do in the White House, was open it up.”
“Our view was this is not our house. We are here to do a job. We’re here for a turn. We’re here for a moment. We are caretakers of this history, and it’s about bringing more people in,” Obama, 61, said.
“I was always the kid growing up in the South Side of Chicago that didn’t feel welcome in some of these fancy places. You go to the big store downtown and all of a sudden somebody’s following you. Or you go into the museum, and people think that you don’t belong,” the nation’s first Black first lady, said.
“When Barack and I were there, we were thinking about those kids like us who were outside of the gates of the South Lawn looking in,” she said.
“Every president has the right to do what they want in that house, so that’s why we got to be clear on who we let in,” she said.
In the sit-down with Morris — which was being recorded as part of a limited series for Obama’s “IMO” podcast — the “Becoming” author also drew laughs from the sold-out crowd.
While she has said that former President Obama wore the same tuxedo for eight years while the couple was in the White House, she announced to cheers from the audience, “He got another tux!”
Obama said that an archive of many of her dresses will be on exhibit at the Obama Presidential Center, poised to open in Chicago in June.
“I kept telling Barack, that’s what people are coming for,” she cracked to Morris.
She also revealed that her husband will likely have one of his most famous — and infamous — outfits on display at the eponymous center.
“He’ll probably have his tan suit. That’ll be his contribution,” Obama said.
Obama praised her team — including Koop, makeup artist Carl Ray, and hairstylists Yene Damtew and Njeri Radway — for understanding the unique role and mission of a first lady.
“The odd part of the first lady position is that, I guess I’m famous, but I’m not a celebrity,” Obama said.
“[With] a celebrity stylist, you’re styling for beauty. You’re styling to be seen,” she continued.
“I’m styling to work.”
Her aim with the style and fashion book, Obama said, was to show that “beauty comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors.”
“There isn’t one way to wear your hair. There isn’t one way to look professional,” she said.
“There isn’t one way of showing up as an American.”
