Former First Lady Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago has ignited a heated debate about the Obama’s family wealth — and where it came from.
In her address, Obama recalled her parents’ approach to life and claimed she had a modest upbringing — and didn’t trust the wealthy.
“She and my father didn’t aspire to be wealthy. In fact, they were suspicious of folks who took more than they needed,” she said, emphasizing her mother’s volunteer work and community involvement.
However, critics were quick to point out what they see as a disconnect between these sentiments and the Obamas’ current lifestyle. The former first couple has an estimated net worth of $70 million and owns luxury properties in Washington D.C., Martha’s Vineyard, Hawaii, and Chicago.
Social media users and political commentators accused Michelle Obama of hypocrisy.
The Trump War Room, an official account of former President Trump’s 2024 campaign, tweeted: “Michelle Obama says her parents ‘were suspicious of folks who took more than they needed.’ She has a net worth of $70 million and lives in a mansion in Martha’s Vineyard.”
Take a look —
Michelle Obama says her parents "were suspicious of folks who took more than they needed."
She has a net worth of $70 million and lives in a mansion in Martha's Vineyard. pic.twitter.com/Rdl6qphYPf
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 21, 2024
Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume also noted the contradiction, saying it gets “a little rich when she starts talking about hope.”
“Remember she famously said when her husband was on the cusp of winning his party’s nomination it was the first time in her life that she had felt hope because of what he brought and what he was bringing,” Hume said.
“Here she is tonight saying it again. I can’t imagine why somebody who’s had the life she had, a product of Princeton and Harvard Law School, an elite law firm, the first lady of the United States, with a magnificent house on Martha’s Vineyard worth about $12 million and another one going up in Hawaii,” he said.
“Why it is that she’s so hopeless all the time and has to have her hope revived by the goings-on in the Democratic Party.”