Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama’s daughters, Malia Obama and Sasha Obama weren’t much older when they found out that their dad had achieved the highest post in the country.
Reports say that they were just 10 and 7 years old, respectively, back then, at the time Obama was elected president for the first time in 2008. However, as per their mother, Michelle Obama, Malia did react to this historic moment surrounding her father and their family.
While they were going towards Grant Park in Chicago for Barack’s victory speech when Malia said something funny – “So we’re in the car on the way to Grant Park, and it’s this deep silence,” the former first lady recalled on the “Las Culturistas” podcast in 2025. Malia thought one came to see and listen to his father’s speech, as the streets where they were heading towards the location were empty.
The former first lady also remembered that Malia inmaturely dissed Barack Obama saying – ‘Dad, I don’t think anybody’s coming to your party. “Because no one was on the street, and this was Lake Shore Drive that was always busy.” She reflected on this particular instance showing the girls how their lives were about to change. “We were like, ‘Oh, sweetie, no. This is what happens now that your dad is president,'” Michelle said. “‘No one will ever be on this street when he’s on the street, again.'”
During the campaign trail, both Michele and Barack Obama always tried to keep their daughters, Malia and Sasha, away from the election frenzy. When they weren’t able to come home, they mostly invited their cousins so that their daughters could have a good time with their siblings, and it also was a solution to their companionship, particularly during the campaign events. Michelle further said – “They were 7 and 10, or 6 and 9 at the time. So most of the time … they’re playing.” She also said, “Election nights were all about, ‘We get chicken fingers and we get to stay up, right?'”
However, that didn’t mean they weren’t aware of what was going on.
Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama stand by their official White House portraits after an unveiling ceremony held at the White House. Watch more: https://t.co/m3TBT8q8rp
(Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images) pic.twitter.com/WakvygPLXe
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 7, 2022
Malia and Sasha Obama knew how to adjust
Barack Obama, when he emerged victorious in the election, went on in an interview on CBS ahead of his swearing-in as the nation’s first-ever African American president. As expected, he was asked how his daughters are taking all these scenes, to which the former President said – “They’re not overwhelmed by it. They’re not awed by it. [But] I think they understand it.”He credited Michelle for raising the daughters with poise and quiet confidence.
He proudly said, “Partly it’s their mother. They have so much love and I think such stability. But also Michelle’s so good at providing them structure and discipline that we haven’t seen problems yet.”
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Both Barack and Michelle Obama expressed their fears of the unwanted fame that Malia and Sasha Obama could gain during their time at the White House. In 2024, Michelle also revealed that she was harsher to her daughters compared to what people knew, but all these were just to teach them well and make them capable and well-adjusted women.
She explained to Melinda Gates in her “Moments That Make Us” series that she didn’t want her daughters to get too comfortable with all those wealthy privileges around them.
She said – “Those girls had to be smart and confident and independent straight away, even when they were living in a house with butlers and maids and florists. She talked about her fear that her husband’s presidency might spoil them and also distort their sense of reality. However, both Malia and Sasha proved wrong.
Michelle said on her “IMO” podcast alongside her brother Craig Robinson – “They did way better than I thought. I mean, they transitioned better than I was transitioning.”
