Michelle Obama Opens Up About Having Sleepless Nights Because of 2024 Elections: ‘I Am Terrified’

The media is buzzing over a statement made by ex-First Lady Michelle Obama during her appearance on Jay Shetty's podcast, where she expressed feeling "terrified" about potential outcomes in the upcoming election. “What’s going to happen for us in this next election? I am terrified about what could happen because our leaders matter," she said, as reported by Raw Story. While refraining from specific names when discussing her concerns during the interview, she highlighted substantial worries regarding the individual chosen to occupy the nation's highest office in her response.

“What keeps me up are the things that I know: the war in... too many regions; what AI is going to do for us and the environment; are we moving at all fast enough? What are we doing about education? Are people going to vote? And why aren’t people voting? Are we too stuck to our phones?" she said, as reported by Deadline. She added, “I mean, those are the things that keep me up because you don’t have control over them. And you wonder…where are we in this? Where are our hearts? What is going to happen in this next election? I am terrified about what could possibly happen because our leaders matter. Who we select, who speaks for us, who holds that bully pulpit."

In her viewpoint, these circumstances impact us in ways that she believes people might overlook or fail to fully appreciate. “We cannot take this democracy for granted, and sometimes I worry that we do," Obama added. In the most recent episode of On Purpose with Jay Shetty, Obama also delves into the influence and repercussions of social media. She tells Shetty, “We haven’t adapted to this new media. We haven't; we have not biologically adapted. And so no wonder we’re stressed.” She added, “No wonder... we’re full of anxiety. No wonder our kids are struggling. You know, because we have a new technology, and we’ve just taken it in hook, line, and sinker."

Obama further supported the idea of being more mindful about children's phone usage, emphasizing the importance of this awareness because they have no filter. She said, “As parents of my generation, we know so little about it; we don’t even know how to monitor it." As per My NBC 15's report, the ex-first lady articulated the notion that there exists a point where one can be overly informed. She expressed possessing considerable awareness about her surroundings and events occurring around her. She further added, “When you’ve been married to the president of the U.S., who knows everything about everything in the world, sometimes you just want to turn it off."

Subsequently, Obama hinted at the existence of a double standard concerning Donald Trump's legal dilemmas compared to the potential consequences if a similar situation were to affect a Black man. “The bars are different for people in life. That I’ve learned. Other people can be indicted a bunch of times and still run for office. Black men can’t. You just learn to be good. And in the end, you benefit from that extra resilience,” she said, as reported by CNN News.