Craig Robinson has spoken candidly about his thoughts on Barack Obama when his sister Michelle first introduced him to the family
Michelle Obama’s brother revealed that he had doubts over her relationship with her husband and former 44th US President Barack Obama.
Michelle and Barack met back in 1988 in Chicago while working at a law firm – where Michelle was assigned to be Barack’s adviser.
Four years later, they were wed and welcomed their first child, Malia, in 1998, while Natasha was born three years later.
Then in 2009, Barack became the first black president of the United States, with the Democrat leader serving two terms until 2017, and he has since confessed that time in the role had put a strain on their marriage.
Recently, Michelle’s brother, Craig Robinson, opened up about his feelings toward Barack on his and Michelle’s IMO podcast that aired on Wednesday (April 16).
Former First Lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks alongside former US President Barack Obama at a ceremony to unveil the official Obama White House portraits at the White House (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
He said: “So Mich starts to date Barack, and we don’t know who this guy is, we’re just like, ‘Barack? Who’s got a name like Barack?’
“And I’m thinking it’s gonna last a month like most of your relationships.”
The 61-year-old then pretended to take offense to what her 62-year-old brother said, quipping: “That’s not true. I’ve had many a long-term boyfriend.”
“I wouldn’t call those guys boyfriends,” Craig joked.
Continuing on the subject of Michelle first introducing Barack to her family, Craig said: “I remember mom’s first thing was, ‘Oh, at least he’s tall!’
“That was her first thing she said, because Mich was usually posting up her other boyfriends.”
Craig then confessed: “And I said to myself, ‘Too bad it’s not going to last’.”
Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson speak on stage during a live IMO podcast episode, in Texas last month (Marcus Ingram/Getty Images)
However, their relationship certainly has and it shows no sign of slowing despite divorce rumors – which Michelle addressed last week.
While appearing as a guest on Sophia Bush’s Work in Progress podcast, she addressed how since leaving The White House and the role of First Lady, she was able to make choices for herself ‘for the first time’.
“The interesting thing is that when I say ‘no’, for the most part, people are like, ‘I get it’,and I’m okay,” Michelle said.
“And that’s the thing that we as women struggle with – disappointing people.
“So much so, that people, they couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself, that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing.”
Because of this, she said, the rumors were spread because it couldn’t be ‘a grown woman just making a set of decisions herself’, which she added is what ‘society does to us’.
She continued: “And if it doesn’t fit into the sort of stereotype of what people think we should do, then it gets labeled as something negative and horrible.”
