The Hint Sasha And Malia Obama Have Secret Social Media Accounts
Malia and Sasha Obama could reign as social media queens if they wanted to. With a high-profile background and effortless cool girl vibe, the sisters have inherent online clout — the kind influencers can only dream of. Yet, intriguingly, they have chosen to remain absent from the digital realm, leaving us with no posts to like or vlogs to watch. As far as we know, the pair has no social media accounts... at least none we can hit follow on, anyway.
It's not as if the two need Instagram handles to get everyone talking, though. They always go viral for even the most mundane things, from going on grocery runs at Trader Joe's to filling up their gas tanks. On occasion, the two would make surprise cameos on their friends' socials, like that one TikTok challenge featuring Sasha and her college pals, proving that even former White House kids are in tune with the trends just like everyone else.
But can we really believe for a second that the famous sisters don't have Twitter stashed away on their iPhones? Their parents, Barack and Michelle Obama, have occasionally teased that the girls are not as offline as they seem. They just prefer to do all the tweeting and posting in secret.
Barack and Michelle Obama revealed their daughters have incognito accounts
It seems even presidential parents can't resist spilling the beans about their kids' online habits. In Malia and Sasha Obama's case, it was their mom and dad who accidentally let it slip that they indeed have social media accounts.
Barack Obama was the first to break, hinting that Sasha was on Twitter when he joined Hillary Clinton's campaign trail, according to Entertainment Tonight. While subtly shading Donald Trump, he dished: "I mean, Sasha tweets, but she doesn't think that she thereby should be sitting behind the desk!" Months later, he made another revelation; this time, the former president shared that Sasha was an avid Snapchat user. Barack told Jimmy Fallon about the time he asked Sasha to teach him how to use the app, which ultimately ended with him doing the schooling. "[And I] come to find out she was recording us the whole time, and then sent to her friends afterwards: 'This is my dad lecturing us on the meaning of social media,'" he said. "And she took a picture of herself sort of looking bored."
Michelle Obama, too, is privy to her daughters' digital lives and keeps up with what they like. "I know what they're watching on Vine, and I know what they're giggling about," she told The Verge in 2016. However, she knows better than to pry, opting not to follow them. "It's better for them to be checked by somebody younger than me," the "Becoming" author shared in an interview with Oprah (via People).
The sisters' social media use was controlled by their parents when they were younger
Malia and Sasha Obama's stealthy social media behavior is perhaps a direct result of their parents' incessant lectures about the perils of being on the internet, especially for kids. Barack and Michelle Obama once opened up about how they prevented their daughters from having access to social media sites when they were younger.
"I still am not a big believer in Facebook for young people... Particularly for them, because they're in the public eye," the former first lady told Barbara Walters in an ABC "20/20" appearance. "Some of it's stuff they don't need to see and be a part of... So we try to protect them from too much of the public voice." She reiterated her stance in a 2011 interview with People, telling the outlet that having a social media presence is unnecessary given how their entire family is under public scrutiny. "Why would we want to have a whole bunch of people who we don't know knowing our business? That doesn't make much sense," she said, adding that the girls can decide for themselves once they leave the White House. "We'll see how they feel in four years."
As of this writing, it's been more than half a decade since the Obamas moved out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and Sasha and Malia have yet to open public social media accounts. Guess we'll have to wait and see if they're going to relent someday!