Michelle Obama ‘not campaigning for Biden over treatment of her friend’

Michelle Obama has resisted campaigning for Joe Biden in part because of how the family treated Hunter Biden’s ex-wife, according to reports.

While Barack Obama has been helping boost Biden’s 2024 campaign by co-hosting glitzy fundraisers and appearing in promotional videos, the former first lady has been notably absent from the trail.

She is also understood to have refrained from posting about Mr Biden’s campaign other than to repost his announcement declaring he was running.

Privately, Mrs Obama, 60, has voiced concern over how the Bidens treated her close friend Kathleen Buhle following her separation from Hunter, two sources told Axios.

According to Hunter’s 2021 memoir, the pair grew close during the Obama administration and “worked out together at the gym and often had evening cocktails at the White House”.

In her 2022 book, The Light We Carry, Mrs Obama wrote about going on regular morning walks by the river with her “friend Kathleen”.

The Bidens reportedly privately blamed Ms Buhle for some of the details of the pair’s divorce, with Hunter’s addiction and use of prostitutes becoming public.

In a previous report, Axios claimed Ms Buhle’s friends were frustrated that the Bidens seemed more concerned about the details of Hunter’s behaviour being leaked than the actions themselves.

Her friends were also reportedly angered after her daughter Naomi Biden was photographed with Jill Biden for a Vogue cover shoot for her wedding at the White House and Ms Buhle was not included.

Earlier this month, Ms Buhle told the court she discovered his drug use when she found a crack cocaine pipe in an ashtray on a porch at their home in Washington in 2015.

She described routinely searching his car for drugs before any of their three daughters drove the vehicle, “so they wouldn’t drive with drugs in it”.

Along with her concerns over Ms Buhle’s treatment, Mrs Obama is also said to be reluctant to support Mr Biden during his re-election campaign due to her dislike of partisan politics.

At a recent fundraiser in Hollywood which raised $30,000 for the Biden campaign, Mr Obama said his wife had “drilled” into their daughters that they would be “crazy to go into politics”.

The relationship between the Bidens and the Obamas is understood to have shifted in 2015 when the Bidens grappled with the death of Beau Biden and Mr Obama discouraged Mr Biden from running for president.

Mr Obama reportedly described the Biden family dynamics as “weird s---” after he attended a Delaware fundraiser for the Beau Biden Foundation in 2017 when Hunter was dating his brother’s widow, Hallie Biden, a source told Axios.

Sources also told the US website Mrs Obama was initially hesitant about campaigning for Biden when he was announced as the Democratic nominee in 2020.

‘They just need to get over it’

She delivered a speech at the Democratic National Convention and posted on social media supporting the Biden campaign. She also became involved through her nonpartisan voter registration organisation, When We All Vote.

A former Obama administration White House staffer said the Obamas had been “far too selective in where and when and how often they will engage” with supporting the Biden campaign.

“I know for a fact that that was the preference of his office and the former first lady’s office”, they told The Telegraph.

“I think there is also an issue with the Biden campaign, but they just need to get over it and they need to get them out there.”

With more than four months left until the election, Mrs Obama could still play a part in Mr Biden’s re-election bid.

One of Mrs Obama’s top aides and White House senior adviser Anita Dunn recently met to discuss how she could become more involved with Mr Biden’s campaign, Axios reported.

Crystal Carson, Mrs Obama’s communications director, said: “Mrs Obama has already said she supports President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign.

“She is friends with Kathleen and with the Bidens. Two things can be true. On Monday, Dr Biden graciously joined the family to celebrate the life of Mrs Marian Robinson”, Mrs Obama’s mother.

‘Not campaigning for anyone at the moment’

A White House source said Mrs Obama has been clear that “campaigning in any context is not her favourite [thing to do] after eight years in the White House”.

They noted Mrs Obama is not campaigning for anyone at the moment and there have been talks about potential ways she could become involved in the future.

Eric Schultz, senior advisor to Mr Obama, said: “Given the stakes of this election, president Obama will do all he can to support” Mr Biden’s campaign.

“In fact, he looks forward to helping Democrats up and down the ballot make the case to voters this fall. Our strategy will be based on driving impact, especially where and when his voice can help move the needle.”

A source said fundraising content and events signed by or featuring Mr Obama had generated $65 million for the Biden campaign.