Awkward Michelle Obama Moments Captured By Millions

Even Michelle Obama has awkward moments. The former first lady spent over a decade in the public eye during her time on her husband's first presidential campaign, her years spent in the White House, and her time after leaving Pennsylvania Avenue. All the while, Obama captured the hearts of many — and subsequently had a lot of her life captured on camera.

The White House and its occupants always seems to come under intense scrutiny and immense public interest, and the Obama White House was no exception. Obama was just as beloved as she was criticized — everything from her hair to her outfit choices to her legal acumen was questioned, and because of that, she learned how to maneuver with a lot of grace.

Even so, there have been a handful of awkward moments involving the former first lady captured by millions. Many have had to do with the Trumps, which doesn't come as a huge surprise, and others have been tense encounters with hecklers and interviewers. While Obama may be the picture of perfect poise, she still fell victim to some less-than-cute, often viral moments. Here are the awkward Michelle Obama moments captured by millions.

After allegations of workplace hostility came to light, people have been watching Ellen DeGeneres' show with a changed perspective. So it comes as no surprise that this awkward exchange between DeGeneres and Michelle Obama hits a little differently now. The pair made a trip to CVS Pharmacy, and it was hysterical watching Obama and DeGeneres go around the store and pick out different items that the first family needed, until it wasn't. 

Obama started saying things like "Can you chill out," and "This is not how you behave!" Then when she started to pay for the items, DeGeneres asked if she could get her face on a bill, and Obama said no. "You would've had to have done something grand like Harriet Tubman," Obama said. "You should have freed some slaves." 

Things then got even more awkward when Obama concluded their trip to CVS by saying, "It's like taking a 3-year-old to the store." The whole trip was a viral bit and most of it was funny, but it got to a point where we really couldn't tell if Obama was kidding or not.

The first lady is a difficult role to fill, and many have relied on their predecessor for advice. Melania Trump, though, didn't reach out to Michelle Obama, and the fallout was awkward. 

Obama was asked by Robin Roberts about her thoughts on Trump and her work as first lady during a CNN interview after her time in the White House. Obama didn't comment, saying that she wouldn't judge the current occupant of the role. But when pressed a bit further, Obama admitted that Trump hadn't reached out to her for advice, another first lady tradition Melania Trump refused to do. 

Additionally, when Obama became first lady, Laura Bush made herself available to her. As such, Obama extended the same courtesy to Trump. "Has she reached out to you?" Roberts asked. "No. No she hasn't," Obama responded, the tone of her response riddled with tension. Trump's office responded, saying that "Mrs. Trump is a strong and independent woman who has been navigating her role as first lady in her own way," a snub to the olive branch extended by the former first lady.

President Barack Obama's inauguration day gave onlookers an awkward Michelle Obama slip-up that was far more endearing than her Tiffany box incident at Donald Trump's inauguration, but nevertheless, Michelle did trip up just a tad when greeting President George Bush and First Lady Laura Bush. In a video captured by the Associated Press, Michelle can be seen reaching for President Bush's hand to shake, before then quickly realizing that she should have greeted the first lady. The quick little gaffe was a bit awkward but, if anything, very reflective of the nervous young couple that was about to occupy the White House. 

But for those of you that are political junkies, you know that the 2009 transfer of power was not the last time the two couples would be seen together. At public event after public event, the bond between the Bush and Obama families became more and more apparent, and it basically culminated when Michelle wrapped her arms around George during the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. We love to see it.

Things were awkward when Melania Trump was invited to the White House to sit down with Michelle Obama in November 2016. Body language expert Elizabeth Kuhnke broke down the meeting between the two women for the Telegraph. "At the White House, [Melania] seems like a girl who has been called into the headteacher's office: she looks nervous, her body is contained and she is holding everything in," Kuhnke explained. "Melania's mouth is held tightly together, she is keeping quiet, rather than risk getting it wrong again." She added that this conforms to the role she's supposed to play: "beautiful and passive." 

So what, in contrast, was Obama's stance during the awkward meeting? Well, Kuhnke revealed that "Melania is a guest in Michelle Obama's environment and it shows." And although Obama's facial expressions were a little forced and over-animated, Kuhnke said that she used the meeting to signal to "Melania that this is her home and she is in control." It was awkward, it was tense, and it was definitely a power struggle.

Memorial services for world leaders seem like they'd be pretty somber, but when Michelle and Barack Obama attended the service for renowned leader Nelson Mandela, she looked less than amused — in part due to her husband's attention towards Gucci Helle, the prime minister of Denmark. At the event, the Obamas were sitting next to Helle, and perhaps the first act that President Obama did that annoyed the first lady was when he took a selfie with Helle and Prime Minister David Cameron. 

Things escalated when the president appeared to say something funny, because as he shared a laugh with Helle, Michelle looked less than thrilled. As the memorial progressed, President Obama kept leaning towards Helle to share his thoughts, all while his wife was sitting next to him. As reported by The Atlantic, "After President Obama left ... Michelle Obama saw the opportunity to pull off the switch," and ended up stealing her husband's seat, perhaps to dull the obvious attention that the two were giving each other." Talk about awkward.

It's pretty uncommon to see Michelle Obama lose her cool, but she was not having it during this event in 2013. As noted by NPR, Obama was speaking during an evening Democratic Party fundraising event in Washington, D.C. when a heckler began shouting at her — and things went downhill from there. "One of the things that I don't do well is this," Obama said to the protestor, who turned out to be Ellen Sturtz from the GetEQUAL campaign. "Do you understand?" 

Obama then moved over to Sturtz and said, "Listen to me or you can take the mic, but I'm leaving. You all decide. You have one choice." The very rare interaction between Obama and the critic ended with Sturtz being escorted away from the event, with people in attendance shouting things at Sturtz such as "you need to go!" Sturtz later told The Washington Post that she was "taken aback" by the whole ordeal, saying that the former first lady "came right down in [her] face." If one thing is clear from this, it's don't mess with Michelle Obama.

Cultural norms are usually observed by the president and first lady while traveling on behalf of the United States, so things got really tense when Michelle Obama chose not to wear a head covering while in Saudi Arabia. According to the Telegraph, Obama "dressed conservatively in black trousers and a long jacket, wearing loose clothing that fully covered her arms, but did not cover her head." As such, the internet lost its mind. 

For those not aware of how big of a deal the choice was, it's required that all Saudi women cover their heads in public. As such, many took to social media to express their disdain for Obama's choice. As noted by The Washington Post, "More than 1,500 tweets using the hashtag #Michelle_Obama_unveiled" were made in the aftermath of the interaction." And if that wasn't awkward enough, the body language between Obama and the male Saudi delegation was really charged because "the simple act of not covering your head can be political, intentionally or not."