Obama is going 'nuts' without sports during pandemic but is glad to have daughters Malia and Sasha at home
Former President Barack Obama has revealed that he is finding it hard to bide his time without sports during the coronavirus pandemic, but is otherwise doing okay because his daughters are staying with him during isolation. Obama, 58, shared the details during a recent call with some of his former administration staffers, the audio of which was obtained by Yahoo News. He said not having sports to watch during this period of isolation was "driving me nuts," before adding that at least daughters Malia and Sasha were "stuck having dinner with me."
Malia, 21, is a junior at Harvard University, where both Michelle and Barack studied law, while her younger sister is said to be a freshman at the University of Michigan. Both returned home from college amidst the outbreak. The whole family has been staying in Washington, D.C., where they have seemingly been keeping busy despite the pandemic bringing normalcy to a halt across the country.
Michelle, 56, had previously shared her family's routine in a conversation with Ellen DeGeneres that was shared by the talk show host in Twitter. "We're just trying to structure our days," she said. "Everybody's home — the girls are back because colleges are online, so they're off in their respective rooms doing their online classes." "I think Barack is — I don't know where he is," she continued. "He was on the phone on a conference call; I just got finished with a conference call," she added. "We're just trying to keep a routine going, but we've also got a little Netflix and chilling happening."
Michelle also appeared with former first lady Laura Bush on a coronavirus relief special and was also the subject of a new Netflix documentary released earlier this month.
The documentary, 'Becoming,' focuses primarily on the former first lady during her most high-profile post-White House project - her best-selling memoir that inspired its name and which saw Michelle go on a countrywide tour promoting it. It also highlighted her community activism empowering girls and young women and featured plenty of her family, including rare appearances from both Malia and Sasha, who have stayed away from media despite their parents' popularity. "You're so good, I love you too much," Malia tells her mother in a clip where she visits her backstage during a stop on her book tour. "I cried again."
When Michelle asks her why she's always crying, Malia gets emotional and responds, "It's always so ... This has demonstrated in a way — it’s just like, damn, those eight years weren’t for nothing. You know?"
"You see that huge crowd out there and that last kind of speech you gave about — people are here because people really believe in hope and hope in other people," she continues. "And also every time you guys play Stevie Wonder, I don’t know, I cry a little bit," she adds with a smile and a small eye-roll. "I’m excited for her to be proud of what she’s done ‘cause I think that’s the most important thing for a human to do is be proud of themselves," Sasha says in another clip.