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Michelle Obama compares Donald Trump to a ‘divorced dad’ who is making America ‘sick’


Michelle Obama has compared US president Donald Trump to a “divorced dad” who is making America “sick”.

The former first lady made her comments during a book tour event in London for her bestselling memoir, Becoming.

She told a crowd at the O2 Arena that her husband Barack’s successor as president was dealing in the “politics of fear”.

During an interview with US TV presenter Stephen Colbert, she told the crowd in London that the US is like a troubled teenager.

She said: “We come from a broken family, we are a little unsettled.

“Sometimes you spend the weekend with divorced dad. That feels like fun but then you get sick.

Mrs Obama’s memoir, Becoming, has been a bestseller (Picture: PA)
Mrs Obama’s memoir, Becoming, has been a bestseller (Picture: PA)

“That’s what America is going through right now. We are living with divorced dad.”

She also said: “The presidency doesn’t change who you are, it reveals who you are. It is like swimming in the ocean with great waves.

“If you are not a great swimmer, you are not going to learn in the middle of a tidal wave. You are going to resort to your kicking and drowning and what you knew how to do in the pool.”

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Mrs Obama, 55, did not refer to Mr Trump by name during the UK-leg of her tour, but she criticised the current president in her book for his “reckless” claim that her husband wasn’t born in the US.

Becoming has already sold more than 10 million copies and is on its way to being the bestselling memoir in history.

Mrs Obama was interviewed by Stephen Colbert in front of an audience in London’s O2 Arena (Picture: PA)
Mrs Obama was interviewed by Stephen Colbert in front of an audience in London’s O2 Arena (Picture: PA)

During her 90-minute audience in London on Saturday night, Mrs Obama said the world was going through a “dark chapter” but that there is the potential for change.

“It’s time for us to roll up our sleeves and if we are not happy with the state of things then, in democracies, we have votes,” she said.

“We have to pay attention and we have to be engaged and we can’t take our rights and liberties for granted. Because if we don’t vote, somebody will.

“This is one of many chapters. It may feel like a dark chapter but any story has its highs and its lows.

Mrs Obama recalled a meeting with the Queen during the interview (Picture: PA)
Mrs Obama recalled a meeting with the Queen during the interview (Picture: PA)

“Yes, it’s low but we’ve had lower. We have had more to fear. We have lived through slavery, the Holocaust and segregation. We have always come out at the other end, better and stronger.

“We are moving in a direction of diversity and inclusion. There will be bumps in the road but change is hard and we are in the throes of that uneasy change.”

Mrs Obama also recalled the joy she felt at seeing the Queen wearing a pin she gave her as a gift.

Mrs Obama sparked controversy when she touched the Queen on the back and has previously said that the Monarch branded royal protocol “rubbish” during a visit to Windsor Castle.

She said of the Queen: “She’s wonderfully warm. And funny. And she’s elegant and kind and considerate in really interesting ways.”

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