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The former first lady's absence at some high-profile events, including the funeral of ex-President Jimmy Carter and President Trump's second inauguration ceremony, helped spark them.
But Michelle Obama has now broken her silence on the speculation, saying that the rumors are just that. Rumors, and she pointed to their ages as one of the reasons the public may not be aware of their social activities. The former president is now 63, and she is now 61.
"The fact that people don't see me going out on a date with my husband sparks rumors of the end of our marriage," she told host Rachelle Martin on NPR's Wild Card podcast, which premiered on Thursday, June 26. "We are 60. You are just not going to know what we're doing every minute of the day."
The Obamas have been married 32 years.
She also addressed her absences at those January events.
"One of the major decisions I made this year was to stay put and not attend funerals and inaugurations and all the things that I'm supposed to attend," she said. "That was a part of me using my ambition to say, 'Let me define what I want to do, apart from what I'm supposed to do, what the world expects of me.'
"And I have to own that. Those are my choices. Whatever the backlash was, I had to sit in it and own it. But I didn't regret it, you know? It's my life now, and I can say that, now. But we'll see. Maybe next year, we sit down, I'll go, 'You know, Rachel, I went a little too far.' "
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