Michelle Obama has expressed private frustration with the Bidens over the treatment of her friend Kathleen Buhle after her divorce from Hunter Biden. It has made her reluctant to openly campaign for the president, according to a new report. The former first lady became friends with Buhle while her husband was in office and Joe Biden was his vice president, and they have since remained close. Hunter Biden and Buhle separated in 2015 and divorced in 2017.
Axios also reported in 2017 that former President Obama attended a Wilmington, Delaware, fundraiser for the Beau Biden Foundation, a children's advocacy group. At the time, the recently divorced Hunter Biden was dating his late brother's widow, Hallie Biden. According to a source who spoke to Axios, Obama described the dynamics on display as 'weird s--t,' although he has since denied making such a statement.
Obama's camp has stressed it was partly about looking for Biden's well-being, as he was in grief that year over the death of his son Beau. The White House pushed back on the Axios report in a statement to Fox News Digital. 'The Biden and Obama families are like family to each other, and whomever made these claims about that relationship isn’t familiar with it,' spokesman Andrew Bates said.