Conservative influencers share edited Michelle Obama comment to push trans conspiracy theory
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On her podcast "IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson," Michelle Obama asked actor Marlon Wayans to talk about his experience "as a Black man" who is "a role model" for raising a transgender child.
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Conservative influencers circulated Obama’s remarks without context to say she described herself as "a Black man." For years, social media users have circulated similar false claims that Obama was born a man.
Conservative influencers circulated an out-of-context Michelle Obama remark to push the long-debunked conspiracy theory that the former first lady was born a man.
“DEVELOPING: Michelle Obama, ‘You’re raising a trans kid. That warms my heart, as a Black man,’” Dom Lucre posted on X April 30. That account has shared altered images and previously promoted the false narrative that Obama was a man.
The posts featured a short clip from the April 30 episode of Obama’s podcast, “IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson.”
Commentator Benny Johnson amplified the narrative in his newsletter and on X, writing, “MICHELLE OBAMA: ‘You’re being a role model for dealing with a child that’s transgender… That warms my heart, particularly as a Black man.’ That’s quite the slip up…”
The End Wokeness account also shared the misleading transcript excerpt to its 3.6 million followers.
The full 23-second video that accompanied the X posts showed that the excerpt shared in captions was misleadingly truncated.
Obama’s comment was part of a question she was posing to her guest, actor and comedian Marlon Wayans, who is Black and a father of a transgender child. Wayans and brother Damon Wayans appeared on “IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson,” the podcast Obama launched with her brother in March, to discuss family and respect.
Here’s the transcript of the relevant part of her discussion with Marlon Wayans:
Obama: “Well, speaking of parenting, I wanted to talk, Marlon, a bit about, you know, just so proud of how you are being a role model for dealing with a child that’s transgender —”
Wayans: “Absolutely.”
Obama: “And that’s, you know, that warms my heart. Particularly, as a Black man, you know — would you care to share that journey of … ?”
Wayans: “I learned, like — their transition really taught me what real unconditional love was.”
Obama: “Yeah.”
False claims that Obama was a man persist online, despite years of debunking.
The comment that circulated online omitted that Obama was asking her podcast guest a question about parenting. We rate this claim Pants on Fire!
RELATED: New supposed evidence that former first lady Michelle Obama is a man is anything but
Our Sources
Benny Johnson’s X post, April 30, 2025
End Wokeness X post, April 30, 2025
Dom Lucre X post, April 30, 2025
Michelle Obama’s podcast IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson, DAMON & MARLON WAYANS Share the Power of Family, Respect, and Raising Kids with Love | IMO, April 30, 2025
PolitiFact, Michelle Obama was never a man, Feb. 28, 2023
PolitiFact, New supposed evidence that former first lady Michelle Obama is a man is anything but, Oct. 3, 2023
PolitiFact, No, Obama didn’t call his wife his ‘husband Michael,’ Oct. 17, 2022
PolitiFact, No, Michelle Obama is not a transgender woman, Oct. 31, 2020
PolitiFact, Image of Michelle Obama is absolutely altered, May 28, 2021
PolitiFact, No, Alexa doesn’t confirm Michelle Obama was born Michael. This is Pants on Fire!, Nov. 15, 2022