Michelle Obama Once Tried To Escape The White House In Order To Party With Citizens

Even the former First Lady needs a break once in a while! Michelle Obama appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Thursday, Nov. 16 as part of her latest book tour to promote her new memoir, Becoming. But everyone knows that when you stop by to see Ellen, things are bound to become hilarious and very entertaining, and that’s exactly what happened when Michelle found herself telling Ellen the one time she tried to escape the White House in order to celebrate the legalization of gay marriage with folks everywhere.

“When you’re in the residence, there’s so much bullet-proof glass that sometimes you don’t hear what’s going on outside,” Michelle said. “And we were having dinner and we were listening… we know there was a celebration happening but we didn’t realize that thousands of people were gathering in front of the White House at that time to celebrate. And my staff was calling me, everybody was celebrating, people were crying, and I thought, I want to be in that. Also, we had worked to make sure that the White House was lit up in the LGBT colors. It was beautiful.”

But “making a break for it” wasn’t going to be that easy for one of the most recognizable women on the planet. “So we had made that plan and I was sitting and watching it on TV and realizing, I’m living this,” Michelle continued. “I said, ‘I have to break out of this. I want to go outside and I want to be a part of that celebration.’ So I had the bright idea, I’m going outside.”

And that’s exactly what she did. But she wasn’t going to go solo as Michelle tried to get her husband and then-President Barack Obama to escape with her. “He was like, ‘Babe, I’ve got too much stuff to do. I can’t go out.’ And he’s like, ‘You know I can’t walk outside. Come on. Get out of my office,” Michelle said.

Eventually, Michelle was able to get her daughter Malia to join in on “the break.” Here’s how Michelle described it: “So it’s me and Mali and we’re trying to get out of the White House and realize that it’s not that easy to get out of the White House when you’re in it but we were determined. And I said, ‘We are not listening to anyone. We are going to walk out that door, you and me.’ So you come out of the residence and there’s an elevator and there’s usually a [Secret Service] agent right there and when you come out, they whisper our code names, ‘They’re moving.’ And I’m like, dang, they know we’re moving. Let’s not take the elevator.”

“Malia’s like, she’s pumped up, she’s like, ‘We’re going to do this, Mom, you get out, you get out.’ But the door is locked and then the usher says, ‘Ma’am, um, if you walk out there, you will be on camera in front of the nation.’ Now I’m in ripped up shorts and a T-shirt, no shoes on, no makeup, and I thought, hmm, you have a point. I don’t want to be on that clip looking like this,” Michelle continued.

After all that, Michelle and Malia eventually made it out where they got to celebrate the fact that the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage. And that is certainly a great reason to celebrate.