New book on Obamas says there were clashes between Michelle and aides

A new book about the Obamas by New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor is creating controversy for its portrayal of the president and the First Lady as well as sections of the book the White House says are inaccurate.

The book, titled “The Obamas,” is set for release this week. Kantor’s book says there were clashes between Michelle Obama and Rahm Emanuel, the White House’s former chief of staff. There were disagreements between Michelle Obama and Robert Gibbs, who served as press secretary and adviser to the president, says "The Obamas."

The president and Michelle Obama declined requests to be interviewed for the book. Kantor says the book came from talking with 30 aides who have worked or are currently working at the White House.

Eric Schultz, spokesman for the White House, said the book is an “over-dramatization.”

“The emotions, thoughts and private moments described in the book, though often seemingly ascribed to the president and first lady, reflect little more than the author's own thoughts,” Schultz told the Associated Press. “These secondhand accounts are staples of every administration in modern political history and often exaggerated.” 

“The Obamas” depicts Michelle Obama as being sometimes frustrated with the restrictions of life as the First Lady, and Kantor says Michelle Obama considered remaining in Chicago until the two Obama daughters finished that portion of school in 2009. Kantor also describes a scene in which Gibbs cursed when Valerie Jarrett, a presidential adviser, told him that Michelle Obama was unhappy with the way he responded when he was told that Michelle Obama was supposed to have said that living in the White House was “hell.” According to Kantor, Gibbs later said that his cursing had been misdirected anger and that he believed Jarrett had deliberately instigated the situation. Aides to Michelle Obama stated that Jarrett had spoken incorrectly. 

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