Michelle Obama Shares ‘Rare’ Casual Photo By Iconic Artist
A photo of former First Lady Michelle Obama wearing jeans and a T-shirt, taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz, is going viral after Obama shared the image to promote a new edition of Leibovitz’s book Women.
By mid-morning, one repost of the photo had already accumulated more than 250,000 views on social media and framed the photo op as “rare.”
Leibovitz, 76, whose career began more than two decades ago with her early work for Rolling Stone, is known for photographing public figures in unconventional settings to highlight different facets of their personalities.
In the new image, Obama, 61, is shown wearing boots, worn jeans, a wide belt, and a T-shirt, with her braided hair pulled back. The setting and styling give the appearance of a rugged, outdoor work environment, consistent with Leibovitz’s signature approach to portraiture.
Or, other observers may see it another way, including USA Today, calling the look “rare” for Obama and noting, “Dressed down in a dark gray henley shirt, lightly distressed blue jeans, a brown leather belt and complementing brown heeled suede boots, Obama’s eyes are closed peacefully as her braids flow in the wind for the photo.”
Last week, Obama gave a new update on reports that she was considering a run for the White House in 2028, but it’s not one that her fans wanted to hear. In an interview, the former first lady said she does not believe the United States is prepared to elect a woman — including her — as president.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(629x245:631x247)/michelle-obama-imo-live-sxsw-031425-1-04921f2e241840919078e0079f278bc0.jpg)
Obama, 61, has long been the focus of speculation from supporters who hope she might launch a White House bid, both during and after her time in her husband’s administration. Calls for a “Michelle 2028” campaign have surfaced again in recent months, including on social media and at recent “No Kings” demonstrations where attendees held signs urging her to run.
But during a Nov. 5 conversation with Tracee Ellis Ross at the Brooklyn Academy of Music to promote her new book, The Look, Obama firmly dismissed the idea.
She said the country “ain’t ready” for a woman to serve as president and made clear she has no plans to enter the 2028 race, People reported.
“Well, as we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain’t ready,” said the former first lady, a reference to Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election – though there’s no evidence whatsoever that Harris was rejected for any reason other than more Americans preferred Trump’s policies.
“That’s why I’m like, ‘Don’t even look at me about running, ‘cause you all are lying,’” added Michelle, before reiterating, “You’re not ready for a woman. You are not. So don’t waste my time.”
As the friendly audience cheered, she added: “We got a lot of growing up to do, and there are still, sadly, a lot of men who do not feel like they can be led by a woman, and we saw it.”
Though some supporters continue to hope she might reconsider, Michelle has repeatedly dismissed the idea of entering electoral politics — including running for president — for more than a decade. She infamously declared in 2008 when her husband became the Democratic party nominee that she was, for the first time, proud of America.
During a 2018 appearance on Today marking the International Day of the Girl, anchor Savannah Guthrie asked whether she had any interest in a political career. Obama responded, “Absolutely not,” reaffirming her long-standing position that she has no plans to seek public office.
“I’ve never wanted to be a politician,” Michelle continued at the time. “Nothing has changed in me. I want to serve. … There are so many ways to make an impact. Politics is not my thing. It’s as simple as that.”
She also rejected the idea years earlier, before she and former President Obama left the White House.
Top DHS Special Agent And His Wife Found Dead
A Department of Homeland Security special agent and his wife were found dead in their New Jersey home in what appears to be a murder-suicide, prosecutors said.
Police in Sayreville responded to the couple’s home on Glynn Court around 8 p.m. July 3 and found Kelly Latauro, 46, dead inside the residence, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Her husband, 52-year-old Christopher Latauro, was discovered dead in the backyard.
Both appear to have been shot.
Authorities said Christopher is believed to be the shooter and the case is being investigated as a murder-suicide.
Police told residents to keep away from Glynn Court, from Deerfield Road to Scarlet Drive, briefly because of police activity.
The area was reopened about 40 minutes later, but police remained on scene.
According to NJ101.5, citing DHS records from 2019 and 2020, Christopher was a special agent for the Department of Homeland Security.
Authorities have not said what may have sparked the violence.
Kelly’s sister-in-law Robyn Perlman-Spencer confirmed her death in a Facebook post on July 7, remembering her in a heartbreaking tribute.
“As many of you may now know, my beautiful sister in law Kelly Iatauro was senselessly and suddenly taken from us on Friday. Kelly was a bright light- kind, thoughtful, hysterical, inappropriate, and just one of the most amazing people I’ve ever known. She left a lasting impression on anyone that was lucky enough to know her,” Robyn wrote in part.
Sayreville police confirmed officers responded to the Glynn Court residence on July 3 and found both people dead of gunshot wounds.
The incident is being treated as a murder-suicide, and Christopher is suspected to be the shooter, the spokesperson said.
The Department of Homeland Security and Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office did not immediately respond to additional requests for comment on the case.
What began as a heavy police response to a deadly scene left two people dead and the quiet Middlesex County neighborhood stunned.
Investigators are still trying to piece together what happened inside the home leading up to the gunfire.
Separately, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin made headlines last week with an election-related announcement.
Mullin on Friday said officials who don’t cooperate with the administration’s election security efforts may be slapped with fines — and potentially prison time.
“If the election officials, once we gave them the information they need to secure their elections — and they chose not to — then those individuals can also be held accountable by fines, by penalties, and even, depending on how far it goes, prison time,” Mullin said during a press conference at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
Mullin also promised DHS would work to “speed up our security enhancements” for states.
He vowed to hold up federal election security grants until state officials took steps the administration demanded, including running their voter registration lists through a system that checks for non-citizen voters on the rolls.
Mullin made his comments after President Donald Trump’s primetime address on election security Thursday night, when he repeated already known concerns about the security of voting systems, alleged Chinese efforts to get into voter rolls, and aired old gripes about the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden.
In his remarks on Friday, the DHS secretary focused on DHS’s work with states to secure election systems and scrub voter registration rolls for fraud and concerns about noncitizen voting.
The Justice Department also sent letters this month threatening prosecution to election officials across the country if they don’t remove noncitizens from their voter rolls.
On Friday, Mullin seemed to suggest that the agency was able to estimate the numbers using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and said 23 states are already working with DHS to analyze voter rolls.
And he criticized the legal challenges that are hindering the administration’s efforts: Last month, a judge blocked the Trump administration from creating a database of information about Americans, including Social Security numbers and citizenship status.
