Michelle Obama has finally broken her silence on why she skipped Donald Trump’s January inauguration.
The former first lady sparked outrage in January after she failed to show up to the 78-year-old president's inauguration.
The move came shortly after she missed Jimmy Carter's funeral, where she would have been seated beside Trump.
The back-to-back absences sparked a wave of rumors ranging from political bitterness to a potential rift in her marriage to former President Barack Obama.
But speaking on a recent episode of her newly launched podcast, which features actress Taraji P. Henson, the 61-year-old shared that the choice, which she said was met with "ridicule and criticism," had nothing to do with scandal and everything to do with self-care.
“I’m at this stage in life where I have to define my life on my terms for the first time,” she shared, per Today. “So what are those terms, and going to therapy just to work all that out?”
At the time, the Obamas’ office issued a brief statement about the former attorney's absence, which read: “Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies. Former First Lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration.”
The lack of explanation only fueled speculation that something deeper was going on. The mom-of-two directly addressed the rumors: “People couldn't believe that I was saying no for any other reason, they had to assume that my marriage was falling apart," cited by The New York Post.
“It took everything in my power to not do the thing that was perceived as right, but do the things that was right for me, that was a hard thing for me to do," she continued, adding that she is now trying to teach her daughters, Sasha and Malia, “the art of saying no".
“I want them to start practicing now the art of saying no, because I see it in them - pleasing, excelling, not wanting to take anything for granted, always showing gratitude,” Obama said. “Feeling like they’re enough right now. It’s a practice. It’s a muscle that you have to build. Because if you don’t constantly build it, you don’t develop it.”
Although the former First Lady did attend Trump’s 2020 inauguration, she’s made her opinions about the former president crystal clear.
She has previously described him as “a convicted felon, a known slumlord,” and “a predator found liable for sexual abuse," per The Independent.