by Jonathan Constante - Opposing Views
Michelle Obama says she will not be running for president in the future.
During an interview with Oprah Winfrey, the First Lady reflected on the last eight years and her hopes for the future, the Daily Mail reported. She also revealed she has no plans on running for office after she and her husband move out of the White House in January.
"I don't make stuff up. I'm not coy. I've proven that. I'm pretty direct," Michele told Oprah during the interview, which aired on CBS on Dec. 19. "If I were interested in it, I'd say it. I don't believe in playing games. It's not something I would do.
"But it also speaks to the fact that people don't really understand how hard this is. And it's not something that you cavalierly just sort of ask a family to do again."
Oprah said she was asked by several people to relay the question of whether Michelle would run for president in the future. She said eight years was enough, which made Michelle think about what 16 years would be like.
"I wouldn't do that to my kids," Michelle said. "Because what people don't understand is that you run - their lives stop at any age. I mean, the next family that comes in here, every person in that family, every child, every grandchild, their lives will be turned upside down in a way that no American really understands.
"And it's not for us to complain about it. So you don't hear complaints. But it is a -- a truth, an actuality, that there is a weight to it."
Michelle said she thought the experience would either make or break her daughters, who were seven and 10-years-old at the time her husband started his presidency. She said her and Obama became closer during his time as commander in chief, adding that a spouse is the only person who really knows about the good and bad things going on.
When asked about the next First Lady, Melania Trump, Michelle said she didn't offer any advice to her during their meeting at the White House in November, but called the meeting "very pleasant."
Michelle said she thought Melania did not know what questions to ask yet, but added that her door will always be open for her.
"You really don't know what you don't know until you're here," Michelle said. "So I - the door is open, as I've told her, and as Laura Bush told me, you know, and as other First Ladies told me."