According to a recent Axios report, Michelle Obama is reportedly hesitant to campaign for President Biden due to frustrations over how her friend, Kathleen Buhle, was treated after her divorce from Hunter Biden. Michelle, who became friends with Buhle during her time in the White House, has remained close to her following Buhle’s separation from Hunter in 2015 and their subsequent divorce in 2017. Buhle’s memoir “If We Break” details how Hunter’s addictions and infidelity led to the dissolution of their marriage and how she felt “largely exiled” from the Biden family afterward, as reported.
The Biden family was reportedly upset by Buhle’s book, even though it was published a year after Hunter Biden’s 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” which focused on his struggles with addiction. In 2017, Axios also reported that former President Obama attended a fundraiser for the Beau Biden Foundation, a children’s advocacy group, in Wilmington, Delaware. During this time, Hunter Biden, who had recently divorced Buhle, was in a relationship with his late brother’s widow, Hallie Biden. A source told Axios that Obama described the situation as “weird s–t,” although he has denied making such a statement since then, Fox News reported.
Obama has expressed that Buhle was treated unfairly after her marriage to Hunter ended, according to people close to her. While Michelle continues to work with a voter registration group, she has notably not been actively campaigning for President Biden as he faces reelection against former President Trump. Her absence from the campaign trail is attributed to her dislike for the demands of partisan politics, rather than campaigning for other candidates.
Obama was initially hesitant to campaign for Joe during his 2020 presidential run but ultimately participated and spoke at the Democratic National Convention. Despite some reported tension in their relationship, there are ongoing discussions about her involvement in campaigning for Biden again. Michelle, who maintains high approval ratings, is considered a powerful political asset by Democrats.