Michelle Obama not campaigning for Biden over family exile of Hunter’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle: report
Former first lady Michelle Obama is reluctant to publicly campaign for President Biden’s re-election because, in part, of how the family treated Kathleen Buhle, her close friend, in the wake of her divorce from Hunter Biden, a new report claims.
The wife of former President Barack Obama has largely steered clear of the 2024 campaign trail after expressing frustration in private over Buhle’s apparent exile from the Biden family years earlier, Axios reported, citing two sources familiar with the relationship.
Michelle’s disdain for partisan politics is also partly to blame for her absence so far this election cycle, the sources added.
The former first lady’s close friendship with Buhle, which has been well documented, dates back to the Obama administration days.
Hunter — who split from the mother of his three eldest kids in 2017 — even addressed the friendship in his own memoir, saying Michelle and his ex-wife had “worked out together at the gym and often had evening cocktails at the White House, at both formal and informal events.”
Buhle, who accused Hunter of cheating and blowing the family’s savings on drugs and prostitutes, is said to have leaned heavily on Michelle in the aftermath of the messy divorce proceedings.
The former first lady, at the time, apparently told people privately she believed Buhle had been wronged by the Biden family after the salacious details from her 22-year marriage to Hunter emerged, the sources said.
A White House spokesman, however, dismissed the rumors of a rift, saying in a statement, “The Biden and Obama families are like family to one another, and whomever made these claims about that relationship isn’t familiar with it.”
“The former President and First Lady have been two of the strongest supporters of President Biden’s leadership and agenda,” the spokesman continued.
Meanwhile, a rep for Mrs. Obama said the former first lady did back Biden’s re-election campaign, adding that “she is friends with Kathleen and with the Bidens. Two things can be true.”
Still, Michelle has largely been absent from the campaign trail so far.
She has opted not to join her husband at several fundraisers or appear alongside him in various videos supporting Biden.
Michelle did, however, repost Biden’s 2024 White House bid announcement on social media.
