Obama jokes Malia and Sasha have ‘PTSD’ after Secret Service crashed dates

Malia and Sasha Obama were 10 and seven years old respectively when their dad won the 2008 presidential election.

May 19, 2021

Former President Barack Obama joked that the First Daughters were often embarrassed by the presence of Secret Service agents on their first dates.

Monday night, President Obama appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden, where he said, “First of all, them as teenagers, having Secret Service guys follow them when they were going out on dates, I think probably has shut down their interest in public service.”

In this 2015 photo, President Barack Obama buys ice cream for his daughters Malia (right) and Sasha (left) at Pleasant Pops in Washington D.C. during Small Business Saturday. (Photo by Aude Guerrucci-Pool/Getty Images)

“They still have PTSD from guys talking into their wrist microphones and glasses as they’re trying to go to a music concert,” he said with a laugh.

Malia and Sasha Obama were 10 and seven years old respectively when their father won the 2008 presidential election. They spent eight years living in the White House. In their post-presidency life, both young women are pursuing higher education. Malia attended Harvard and reportedly has an interest in working in Hollywood. Sasha attends the University of Michigan.

The former president said he and former First Lady Michelle Obama often worried if life in the White House would make the girls “weird kids.”

“They have turned into just exceptional young women. I could not be prouder of them,” Obama said. “Not just because they’re smart and accomplished, but they’re just kind people. They don’t have an attitude.”

The former president, who appeared on The Late Late Show via a video link, was on talking about his post-presidency life.

Corden asked him if he could envision his daughters entering politics.

“You have to have a certain tolerance for nonsense and silliness and meanness, frankly, to go into public service,” Obama said. “As a father, I want to protect my girls from that stuff.”

“I think they are probably going to find other ways to serve rather than run for office themselves,” he continued, “but you never know. If they decided to do it, obviously I would be extraordinarily proud of them.”

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