It’s always hard growing up as the child of a famous person. And it can be particularly difficult to be the child of an American president. After all, other kids might have movie celebrities or rock stars as their dads, but only so many people can say their father was once the most powerful man in the world.
This has been the case with Sasha and Malia Obama, and it looks like both girls found a way to deal with the stress: smoking cigarettes. And their nicotine habit isn’t some act of youthful rebellion; instead, it seems to be a nasty habit they picked up from their father. What is Barack Obama’s history of smoking cigarettes, and what do we know about Sasha and Malia’s own history with cigarettes? Keep reading to find out!
Barack Obama’s history of smoking cigarettes
For many people, it’s difficult to imagine Barack Obama as a heavy smoker. He always presented himself as a very wholesome family man, and the idea of him motoring through half a pack of cigarettes a day seems downright unthinkable.
The more you know about Obama’s past, though, the easier it is to believe. As Page Six reports, the former president once smoked 10 cigarettes a day when he was at the height of his own nicotine addiction. In other words, smoking these cigarettes was a regular part of Obama’s life, a fact that could easily shatter your preconceived notions of the man.
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Did Barack Obama quit smoking right away?
We say “once smoked” for a reason: these days, Barack Obama no longer smokes cigarettes. When it comes to former smokers, some manage to quit right away and others require a bit more time. As for this former president, he wasn’t able to quit “cold turkey” like some smokers do.
This isn’t exactly secret information, either: it’s something that Obama admitted to during a 2009 White House press conference. “Have I fallen off the wagon sometimes? Yes. Am I a daily smoker — a constant smoker? No”, he said. “I don’t do it in front of my kids. I don’t do it in front of my family.” And his statement offered a glimpse of exactly why Obama eventually gave up the habit for good.
The reason why Barack Obama gave up cigarettes for good
At one point, Barack Obama cracked a pretty funny joke about why he gave up cigarettes. As Essence reports, he cracked, “I haven’t had a cigarette in probably six years… that’s because I’m scared of my wife.” The comment was tongue-in-cheek, but it had an element of truth to it.
As Sasha and Malia Obama grew older, Michelle was understandably concerned about her father passing on bad habits. She encouraged her husband to kick the habit, which he finally did. Unfortunately, Barack Obama putting the cigarettes down for good wasn’t enough to keep his children from following in his footsteps.
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How the world discovered Malia Obama likes to smoke
As we noted before, being the child of a president means that you’re a very public figure. Unfortunately for Malia Obama, having the eyes of the world constantly on her meant that everyone knew almost exactly when she decided to start smoking.
It all started in 2017 when pictures went viral showing Malia was seen smoking a cigarette during the Harvard versus Yale football game. Some surprising figures came to her defense, including fellow presidential children Chelsea Clinton and Ivanka Trump. Still, the cat was now out of the bag: Malia and her father were more alike than anyone had realized.
Sasha Obama also picked up this nasty habit
As the younger Obama daughter, Sasha has always been seen as more innocent than Malia. And she has certainly generated fewer controversial headlines than her sister. However, this didn’t keep Sasha from picking up the nicotine habit, just as her father and sister did before her.
Just last month, photos went viral showing Sasha Obama hanging out in Los Angeles in her chic swimwear. But while her cute bikini was a big hit, what really caught everyone’s eye was the fact that Sasha was rocking a cigarette. She has since been seen smoking on multiple occasions, cementing that she loves Nicotine as much as most of her family either has or have before.
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Barack and Malia have enjoyed smoking more than nicotine
Depending on your perspective, the fact that Barack Obama and his daughters have all enjoyed cigarettes may not seem all that shocking. However, what did raise more than a few eyebrows was the fact that the family has enjoyed more than cigarettes…they have also apparently been fans of marijuana!
The New York Post reports that Malia Obama was seen smoking what appeared to be cannabis when she was attending Lolapalooza. While this isn’t an activity she likely saw her father doing, Barack Obama enjoyed smoking marijuana as a young man growing up in Hawaii. Of course, Malia hasn’t been sighted smoking weed again since then, so it’s possible that she and her father have both kicked this particular habit for good.