Life

Barack Obama Compares His Surprise Appearance on Michelle's Book Tour to JAY-Z and Beyoncé

"This is like—you know when JAY-Z comes out during the Beyonce concert?"

U.S. President Barack Obama stands on stage with rapper Jay Z
Image via Getty/Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis
Getty

Former first lady Michelle Obama's tour promoting her book, Becoming, stopped at Washington, D.C. on Saturday and featured a very special guest: her husband Barack Obama. The former president popped up shortly after Michelle was telling the event moderator, former White House adviser Valerie Jarrett, about her frustrations with the current political climate and Barack's silence, according to CNN.

"There are so many times where I just want him—like, I know, all of you—to just curse them out," Michelle Obama said. "Just say these things. And he's like, 'Well, that's not the point.' You know, the president isn't the president for his own ego. The president is the president for the entire country. So we have to be very mindful of what we say and how we say it."

The discussion switched to more lighthearted topics when Barack pulled up. He gifted Michelle a bouquet of pink flowers and even compared his cameo to JAY-Z performing at a Beyonce concert.

"This is like—you know when JAY-Z comes out during the Beyonce concert? ... 'Like, Crazy in Love?,'" Barack said to the audience. "It's the same thing. It's just a little sample to enhance the concert."

President Obama also praised his wife on the success of her book. Becoming sold more than 725,000 copies the day it hit bookstores, the largest single-day total for any book published by Penguin Random House in 2018.

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