'Michelle would leave me': Barack Obama says he will not serve in Joe Biden's cabinet
Former US president Barack Obama says he has no desire to work in the White House alongside newly elected president Joe Biden because his wife and former first lady Michelle had made it clear before he won the presidency that she had no desire or passion for politics.
In his interview on CBC Sunday Morning with Gayle King, Obama said: “I'm not planning to suddenly work on the White House staff or something. There are some things I would not be doing because Michelle would leave me. She'd be like: 'What? You're doing what?'
“I am mindful of the sacrifices she made but the good news is, for whatever reason, she has forgiven me, sort of. She still reminds me, occasionally, of what she put up with.”
Obama served as US president for two terms between 2009 and 2017. Biden served as the US vice-president under Obama's tenure.
Biden defeated outgoing US president Donald Trump in the election held on November 3 and will serve alongside Kamala Harris as his vice president.
Obama congratulated Biden, saying he has no doubt he will act in the best interest of the people.
“We're fortunate that Joe's got what it takes to be president and already carries himself that way,” he wrote in a recent statement.
“When he walks into the White House in January, he'll face a series of extraordinary challenges no incoming president ever has - a ranging pandemic, an unequal economy and justice system, a democracy at risk and a climate in peril.”
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