Michelle Obama taped an interview with “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” Wednesday and discussed several topics, including that awkward time Melania Trump gave her a gift and she didn’t know how to act.
The footage went viral last year after Melania stepped out of the car holding a Tiffany box and gave it to Michelle upon greeting her. Many people saw Michelle’s reaction as rude and disrespectful.
So Ellen gave the former first lady the chance to explain herself now that a year has passed.
“Hey, I have a question, and I think a lot of people have the same question: So, when the transfer was happening, when Donald Trump and his wife were moving into the White House, there was a gift exchange,” Ellen asked.
“Oh yeah. The Tiffany box,” Michelle says, as Ellen cuts her off to rip on Trump for leaving “his wife behind” after they arrived at the White House.
“Well, there’s all this protocol,” Obama interjects. “I mean, this is like a state visit, so they tell you that you’re going to do this, they’re going to stand here. Never before do you get this gift, so I’m sort of like, ‘OK. What am I supposed to do with this gift?’ And everyone cleared out and no one would come and take the box. And I’m thinking, ‘Do we take the picture with … ?’ And then my husband saved the day — see, he grabbed the box and took it back inside. But everybody cleared out. No staff, no one. I was like, ‘What do you do with the box?’”
Poor Michelle. Imagine receiving a gift you weren’t prepared to get and not having anybody to immediately take it off your hands. The horror. Thank goodness the Obamas didn’t have to spend another year in the White House. I can’t imagine how they would handle all those filthy gifts catching them off guard.
What’s untrue, however, is saying this has never happened before. Many people on social media pointed out a similar gift exchange happened in 2009 during Obama’s inauguration, when Michelle gave former first lady Laura Bush a present and the entire media swooned.
“Oh, she’s brought a gift! Aw, she’s such a gracious lady,” one NBC cohost exclaims. “I bet it’s not Tupperware,” Matt Lauer chimes in.
Nice try, though.
The full interview with Michelle Obama will air Thursday, in honor of DeGeneres’ 60th birthday. Let’s hope Michelle didn’t give Ellen any unexpected gifts. She might crumble under all that pressure.
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