Being the daughter of any president, let alone one as well-liked as Barack Obama, entails tremendous scrutiny for any behavior that is less than flawless. The same may be said for the former president, who has admitted to engaging in activities he disliked, such as smoking cigarettes.
Obama claims that during his peak smoking years, he could consume 10 cigarettes a day. As a U.S. senator from Illinois, Obama continued the habit, but when he chose to run for president, he told his wife, Michelle Obama, that he would stop. He generally kept his pledge, dramatically reducing his smoking, though he admitted he sometimes fought with the need to smoke. During a White House press conference in 2009, President Obama said, “Have I fallen off the wagon sometimes? Yes. Am I a daily smoker — a constant smoker? No. I don’t do it in front of my kids. I don’t do it in front of my family.”
As his daughters Sasha and Malia got older, the former president gave up smoking for good. Michelle added that her husband wanted to educate the girls about the dangers of smoking without seeming hypocritical. The former president claimed that his daughters and nicotine gum assisted him in quitting smoking. Despite his best efforts to set a good example, it appears that Sasha and Malia picked up smoking from their father.
Malia Obama has no problem lighting up
While Barack Obama’s oldest daughter, Malia Obama, was a freshman at Harvard in 2017, she was spotted in the stands as Harvard faced Ivy League rival Yale in the annual football game. While Yale won the game, a video that appeared to show Malia smoking a cigarette was the most notable event. While the video was making the rounds on social media, many people, including some other president’s daughters, came to Malia’s defense. “Malia Obama should be allowed the same privacy as her school aged peers. She is a young adult and private citizen, and should be OFF limits,” Ivanka Trump tweeted. Malia’s “private life, as a young woman, a college student, a private citizen, should not be your clickbait,” Chelsea Clinton commented on Twitter. “Be better.”.”
According to the New York Post, Malia was allegedly seen smoking marijuana while attending the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago, Illinois, where the drug is legal. Not that her father would necessarily object, as Barack acknowledged to smoking marijuana as a young man growing up in Hawaii. His friends and he called themselves the Choom Gang, a reference to their marijuana use. Malia later seemed to reference the uproar she caused by wearing a homemade blouse that stated “Smoking Kills” to the Budweiser Made in America Festival in 2016.
Sasha Obama is like her dad too
Sasha Obama, Barack Obama’s youngest daughter who lives in Los Angeles, was pictured wearing a colorful bikini top in images released by Page Six in September 2023. However, it was her casual accessory, a cigarette she lit while out with friends, that drew the attention of the media. It didn’t appear to be a one-time incident, as images published by the Daily Mail approximately a week later showed Sasha lighting up again. Sasha was caught smoking a cigarette in her car after exiting a fancy spa in Los Angeles, appearing to blend healthy and less healthy habits. Many on social media defended Sasha, saying she should be entitled to do — or smoke — whatever she wants, similar to how her sister, Malia Obama, was criticized for smoking.
Sasha formerly dated Clifton Powell Jr., the son of actor Clifton Powell. After Sasha transferred to the University of Southern California for her undergraduate degree, the two began dating. Even better, Powell Jr. looked to get along with Malia when the two were seen walking in a Los Angeles park. Malia was seen smoking a cigarette during the stroll, indicating that she still loved her father’s past habit.
