Former President Barack Obama has made an interesting move just days after he admitted that his political activism in speaking out against President Donald Trump is causing “genuine tension” with his wife.

Rumors have circulated for years that Barack and Michelle Obama’s marriage is in trouble and that they have been having issues. (Obama accused of committing treason for act against Trump)

Despite the former first family denying the rumors, they have persisted.

The former president shared a “behind-the-scenes” photo of himself with his wife Michelle Obama and their two children in a Mother’s Day tribute. (Photo of Barack goes viral for all the wrong reasons)

“Wishing all the moms out there a wonderful Mother’s Day! To @MichelleObama, I’m grateful for all the ways you’ve shown up for our daughters and our family over the years. We love you,” Barack captioned the image, which appeared to have been taken from early on in his political career. The photo showed the former politician sitting at his desk in a brown leather chair with his youngest daughter Sasha in his lap.

Last week, Barack Obama told an outlet that Trump’s policies and actions are causing him to remain more involved in politics “than I would have preferred.”

That said, his renewed political involvement in left-wing causes has come at a personal cost.

“She wants to see her husband easing up and spending more time with her, enjoying what remains of our lives,” Barack said of Michelle in an interview with the New Yorker.

“It does create a genuine tension in our household, and it frustrates her. I’m more forgiving of it, in the sense that I understand why people feel that way, because people aren’t looking at me in historical comparison to other presidents. They don’t care about the fact that no other ex-president was the main surrogate for the Party for four election cycles after they left office,” he said, making the issue all about himself, which is par for the course with him.

Obama went on to falsely claim that he had held back from criticizing Trump since the latter took office in 2017. In reality, Obama has frequently criticized Trump and his policies, though he hasn’t actually referred to Trump by name.

The latest example was a speech he gave at the late civil rights icon Jesse Jackson’s funeral, where comments he made were widely regarded as being directed toward Trump.

“We are living in a time when it can be hard to hope. Each day we wake up to some new assault on our democratic institutions, another setback to the idea of the rule of law, an offense to common decency. Every day you wake up to… to things you just didn’t think were possible,” he said during the speech.

“Each day we’re told by those in high office to fear each other, and to turn on each other. And that some Americans count more than others, and that some don’t even count at all! Everywhere we see greed and bigotry being celebrated, and bullying and mockery masquerading as strength! We see science and expertise denigrated, while ignorance and dishonesty, and cruelty, and corruption ,are reaping untold rewards! every single day we see that and it’s hard to hope In those moments,” he continued.

“So it may be tempting to give to get discouraged, to give in to cynicism. It may be tempting for some to compromise with power, and grab what you can, or even for good people to maybe just put your head down and wait for the storm to pass. But this man, Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, inspires us to take a harder path,” Obama droned on.

“His voice calls on each of us to be heralds of change, to be messengers of hope, to step forward and say, ‘Send me!’ wherever we have a chance to make an impact, whether it’s in our school, or our workplaces, or our neighborhoods, or our cities. Not for fame, not for glory, or because success is guaranteed, but because it gives our life purpose. Because it aligns with what our faith tells us God demands. And because if we don’t step up, no one else will. How fortunate we were that Jesse Jackson answered that call,” he concluded.

The comments were so partisan and over the top that Jackson’s son, Jesse Jackson Jr., rebuked Obama and other former presidents Bill Clinton and Joe Biden for using the occasion to be political.

For the record, Trump spoke highly of Jackson, despite Jackson’s Democratic political leanings, noting that he was a “force of nature like few others before him.”

Acting AG Blanche Fires Back at Obama’s DOJ Criticism

Posted July 21, 2026

Former President Barack Obama sharply criticized the Trump administration this week over what he described as growing political influence inside the United States Department of Justice, prompting an aggressive response from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defending both the administration’s prosecutions and President Donald Trump’s authority over the executive branch.

The escalating public dispute comes as the Justice Department faces mounting scrutiny over a series of criminal investigations and indictments involving several longtime Trump critics and political adversaries, including former FBI Director James Comey.

Obama raised the issue during an interview with Stephen Colbert on CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that aired Monday night.

“The White House shouldn’t be able to direct the attorney general to go around prosecuting whoever,” Obama said during the interview. “The idea is that the attorney general is the people’s lawyer. It’s not the president’s consigliere.”

Obama suggested the principle of DOJ independence may ultimately need to be codified into law by Congress, arguing that the justice system risks becoming politicized if presidents are perceived as directly targeting political opponents through federal prosecutions.

The comments immediately triggered pushback from the Trump administration.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson accused Obama of hypocrisy, arguing that his administration played a central role in the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation.

“Barack Hussein Obama is the king of weaponization,” Jackson said in a statement, referencing declassified documents related to the FBI’s Russia probe.

But the administration’s most extensive response came Wednesday from Blanche during an interview with CBS News in Phoenix.

Blanche forcefully rejected accusations that the DOJ is engaged in political retaliation and defended the president’s constitutional authority over the executive branch.

“Article Two says, ‘the executive power shall be vested in the President of the United States of America,’” Blanche said while holding a pocket copy of the Constitution during the interview. “It does not say that the Attorney General stands off to the side.”

Blanche emphasized that the attorney general serves within the executive branch and argued that presidents are fully entitled to direct priorities involving law enforcement, immigration, drugs, and national security.

“To the extent that President Trump calls me and says that he thinks we have a problem in this country, whether it’s the scourge of drugs, illegal immigration, every American wants him to do that,” Blanche said. “And he should.”

The acting attorney general also dismissed accusations that the DOJ is pursuing politically motivated cases against Trump critics.

“We are absolutely doing nothing but what we should be doing at the Department of Justice,” Blanche said. “I wake up with a very clean conscience every morning.”

The public clash comes amid multiple high-profile investigations involving Trump adversaries.

Most notably, Comey was recently indicted after prosecutors alleged a 2025 Instagram post featuring seashells arranged to form the numbers “86 47” constituted a threat against Trump, the 47th president. Prosecutors argue “86” is commonly understood slang meaning “to eliminate” or “get rid of.”

Blanche defended the case, arguing threats against the president must be treated seriously given recent assassination attempts and escalating political extremism.

Last year, Trump publicly urged then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue prosecutions against Comey, James, and Sen. Adam Schiff, writing on social media that “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED.”

Blanche declined to discuss private conversations with Trump when asked whether the president personally directed prosecutions.

“But rest assured,” Blanche said, “he has much better, bigger and important things to do than to worry about me doing my job.”

Blanche also turned Democrats’ criticism back against them by pointing to the multiple criminal prosecutions Trump himself faced before returning to office, including cases brought by state prosecutors in New York and Georgia as well as federal investigations overseen by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

“So I welcome criticism. Let’s go,” Blanche said. “But if you’re sitting in a glass house, you ought not throw stones.”