Claim review · Rating: False (clipped) · Updated 2026-10-26

Michelle Obama did not call herself "a Black man": the 2025 podcast clip in context

Short answer: No. In the full episode she is asking Marlon Wayans about his transgender child and says "particularly as a Black man," addressing him. The viral post rewrote that as something she said about herself.

Updated 2026-10-26. Part of the larger review: what the originals show.

The claim

An X post of April 30, 2025 captioned a short video: Michelle Obama: "You're raising a trans kid. That warms my heart, as a black man." Lead Stories notes that the final period turns the quote into a statement about herself. Lead Stories

Side by side: the full episode and the clip

Original
Not hosted here.
Use the source link below.

ORIGINALIMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson, "Respect Your Kids' Choices with Damon and Marlon Wayans," Ep. 10. Full episode on Michelle Obama's YouTube channel (uploaded 2025-04-30, 7:01 AM PDT, length about 1 hour 8 minutes) · IMO episode page · Apple Podcasts (published 2025-04-30, 10:00 UTC).

Clipped copy
Not hosted here.
Use the source link below.

CLIPPEDPost on X by the account @EndWokeness, 2025-04-30, 8:17 AM PDT (15:17 UTC); a video of about 23 seconds. Post on X (public read; not hosted here).

What the original says

Near 55:29 in the full episode, she moves to a question for Marlon Wayans. Auto-generated YouTube captions (machine-made, used only to find the passage) read from 55:38: "...role model for dealing with a child that's transgender. Absolutely. Um and that's, you know, that warms my heart particularly as a black man. Um you know, I would you care to share that journey..." Episode
Lead Stories gives a human transcription: "Well, speaking of parenting, I wanted to talk, Marlon, a bit about, you know -- just so proud of how you are being a role model for dealing with a child that's transgender. And that's, you know, that warms my heart, particularly as a Black man, would you care to share that journey?" Lead Stories (secondary)
The episode names her as co-host with her brother Craig Robinson, with Damon and Marlon Wayans as guests. Episode page · Apple Podcasts
Snopes rates the claim "Miscaptioned" and puts the passage at the 55:29 mark. Snopes, 2025-05-01 (secondary)

We have not listened to the audio ourselves; the passage was located through the captions, and the human transcription and Snopes agree on the wording and context.

What was changed, in plain terms

Element	Original	Viral version
Addressee	Marlon Wayans, a guest, asked a question	Presented as her describing herself
Wording	The sentence continues into a question: "would you care to share that journey?"	Cut off after "black man," with a period added in the caption
Context	A conversation about parenting	No context given

How the clip spread

2025-04-30, 7:01 AM PDT: The full episode is uploaded to YouTube. YouTube
2025-04-30, 8:17 AM PDT: The clipped post appears on X; when we read it on 2026-10-26 it showed about 6.56 million impressions. X
2025-04-30: Lead Stories publishes its check. Lead Stories
2025-05-01 and 2025-05-02: Snopes and PolitiFact publish. Snopes · PolitiFact

Sources

Primary

Secondary context only (fact-checkers and reference)

How we know

Find the full episode on the host's own channel and note the upload time.
Locate the passage near 55:29 and read the surrounding sentences.
Compare the quote on X with the words before and after it, and note who is being addressed.
Confirm the clipped post's date and time through a public read of X.
State the limit: auto-captions used to locate the passage; audio not independently transcribed.

Change log

Date	Change
2026-10-26	First version of this page.

This site is independent. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Michelle Obama, Barack Obama, the Obama Foundation, or any government office. To report an error, see the corrections page.