Malia Obama's Most Controversial Moments
From Jenna and Barbara Bush's underage drinking and Hunter Biden's tax charges to the never-ending list of scandals involving Donald Trump Jr., the presidential kids of the 21st century appear to have done their utmost best to create as many headlines as their famous fathers. And although Malia Obama has been relatively squeaky clean in comparison to her White House predecessors, she has still courted her fair share of controversy over the years.
Indeed, the eldest daughter of the 44th POTUS, Barack Obama, has often found herself in the press for the wrong reasons since officially becoming a first daughter in 2009, whether it's for allegedly smoking pot at one of America's biggest music festivals, disrespecting an annual White House tradition, or snubbing the woman who was hotly tipped to take over from her dad. Here's a look at eight times she gave the conservative side of the media ammunition.
Steve King blasts Malia Obama for spring break vacation
As you'd expect as the daughters of the 44th President of the United States, Malia and Sasha Obama did things a little differently when it came to their spring break vacations. In 2013, they enjoyed a trip to the Bahamas, while the year previously they'd been afforded a jaunt to Mexico. But never missing an opportunity to spin things to his political advantage, Republican representative Steve King blasted the girls for not simply opting for a staycation instead.
Appearing on an Iowa radio station, King argued that such luxurious holidays were misguided in a period when the American economy was struggling: "That is the wrong image to be coming out of the White House," he remarked (via HuffPost) after advising then-president Barack Obama to "show some austerity himself." He also agreed with a caller who called the sisters' trip "not acceptable" and "really hard to stomach."
King either wasn't aware of, or simply chose to ignore, the fact that such vacations are usually funded by the presidents, with only the staffing and security paid for by the taxpayer.
Malia Obama is accused of disrespecting Thanksgiving
In 2014, Malia Obama and her sister Sasha Obama were taken along by their parents to one of the annual White House traditions, the Thanksgiving turkey pardoning event. And as you would expect from two girls who were only 16 and 13 at the time, they didn't exactly appear to be find the ceremony particulary enthralling.
Indeed, the first daughters were spotted looking entirely uninterested as their father Barack Obama gave two lucky birds a last-minute reprieve. And Elizabeth Lauten, congressman Stephen Fincher's communications director, wasn't particularly amused. Taking to Facebook to give the girls a dressing down, she began (via BBC News), "Dear Sasha and Malia: I get you're both in those awful teen years, but you're a part of the First Family, try showing a little class. At least respect the part you play."
Lauten also called out their fashion sense, threw some shade at their parents, and advised them to "rise to the occasion." After receiving a backlash, the political aide was forced to eat some humble pie, returning to Facebook to admit that she "had judged the two young ladies in a way that I would never have wanted to be judged myself as a teenager." In fact, Lauten later stepped down from her position due to the pushback she received.
Malia Obama was spotted smoking pot?
In 2007, Barack Obama revealed in his memoir "Dreams of My Father" that he used both marijuana and cocaine during his college years. So the former POTUS couldn't come down too hard on daughter Malia Obama when she was pictured smoking what looked like a marijuana joint while partying at Lollapalooza 2016. Of course, that didn't stop the rest of the media from expressing their disapproval.
In a nine-second video clip first accessed by Radar Online, the first daughter can be seen puffing away on some form of cigarette, with a witness telling the same site that it was definitely stronger than tobacco. The footage made headlines despite the fact that the state of Illinois where the festival was being held had recently decriminalized the alleged drug.
Malia herself didn't seem too bothered about all the furore, though. In fact, just a few weeks later, she attended another major music event, the Budweiser Made in America Festival, sporting a T-shirt cheekily emblazoned with the words, "Smoking Kills."
Malia Obama skips historic speech
Not only was Malia Obama criticized for allegedly smoking pot at Lollapalooza 2016, she also received tuts of disapproval for turning up to the festival in the first place. Yes, at the same time that she was throwing some shapes to the likes of Scandinavian DJ Cashmere Cat, the Democrats were holding their National Convention. And a history-making one, too.
Indeed, this was the convention where Hillary Clinton accepted the party's presidential nomination, becoming the first woman to run for pole position in the White House in the process. And so some commentators believed that Malia's no-show at the event, in which both her parents Barack and Michelle Obama gave endorsement speeches, was a sign of disrespect.
It's not known whether Malia was pumped to vote for Clinton in the first presidential election she was eligible to vote for, but the former First Lady, who famously lost to Donald Trump, was no doubt relying on her support. Referring to Barack Obama's legacy while on the campaign trail, she told the press (via MailOnline), "I happen to think those two young women (Malia and sister Sasha Obama) may be the most impressive accomplishment of all."
Malia Obama attended party broken up by police
Shortly after the whole Lollapalooza scandal in which she was alleged to have smoked pot, further evidence that Malia Obama was something of a party girl emerged. Yes, in August 2016, the first daughter was apparently escorted from a West Tisbury bash that had got so wild it had to be broken up by police.
According to the Boston Herald, cops were called to the private house party following a complaint about the noise. And once they turned up, Obama was rushed away by Secret Service. West Tisbury police refused to confirm one way or the other whether this was true, but they did reveal that they told all partygoers to head home and that they all complied.
Just 24 hours later, Malia was pictured on a walk with her father close to their Martha's Vineyard vacation home. It's not clear what their topic of conversation was, but judging by both of their serious faces, a dressing down about the night before isn't out of the question.
Malia Obama was accused of flaunting wealth
Malia Obama no doubt felt she couldn't do right for doing wrong after attending a 2016 White House State Dinner in aid of Justin Trudeau. Had she sported something off the rack, she would have been accused of disrespect. But having made the effort to wear a Naeem Khan dress that cost nearly $18,000, she was criticized for flaunting her wealth.
It didn't matter that Malia and sister Sasha Obama, whose gown cost approximately two grand more, had only loaned the outfits and not bought them outright. Certain members of the press still called them out, including ABC News anchor Kristen Szo who deemed the clothes (via Richmond Free Press) "too expensive for young girls" and asked any parents of teenagers whether they would ever fork out a similar amount in the name of fashion.
After experiencing a backlash of her own, Szo deleted and apologized for her offending tweet. "Sorry my Obama girls dress tweet failed 2 come x as intended," she later wrote. "Was trying 2 have mom convo on cost of clothing."
Malia Obama is caught smoking a cigarette
You wouldn't expect Chelsea Clinton and Ivanka Trump to find common ground that often. But in 2017, the former presidential kids both spoke out in defense of someone else who knows all about life in the White House, Malia Obama, after she was filmed smoking a cigarette at a tailgate for the yearly Harvard-Yale football game.
Footage of the oh-so-shocking incident was first posted on Instagram before The Daily Caller, a conservative news site, took great glee in publicizing it further. However, despite trying to whip up a controversy, most believed that the eldest daughter of Barack and Michelle Obama wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary.
And that included both Trump and Clinton, with the former tweeting, "Malia Obama should be allowed the same privacy as her school-aged peers. She is a young adult and private citizen, and should be off limits." The latter also took to X formerly known as Twitter to post, "Malia Obama's private life, as a young woman, a college student, a private citizen, should not be your clickbait. Be better."
Malia Obama is spotted underage drinking
Three years after being slammed for allegedly smoking pot at Lollapalooza, Malia Obama once again found herself at the center of a substance-related media storm when she had the gall to enjoy a glass of wine in Miami in full view of the public. The former first daughter was 20 at the time, meaning she was a year under the state of Florida's legal drinking age limit, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by the conservative side of the media.
"Living like the 1%? Drinking underage? Let's see the #democrats and media scream about 'privilege' here." That was the response from right-leaning radio show host Andrew Wilkow on X, and a typical one from those determined to beat the Democrats with any stick possible.
Most of social media, on the other hand, found the concept of Barack and Michelle Obama's daughter opting for a bottle of rose that cost approximately just $20 highly entertaining. "If Malia Obama doesn't release an exclusive line of rosé for me to drink all summer...," quipped one fan. "Malia Obama drinks rosé and hates Trump? Yeah me too, what about it?," wrote another.
Malia Obama throws shade at Donald Trump?
In 2023, Malia Obama added screenwriter to her list of talents when she co-penned the fifth episode of Amazon drama "Swarm." And it seems like she didn't miss the opportunity to throw some shade at one of her father's biggest detractors.
Titled "Girl Bye," the episode sees Dominique Fishback's celebrity-obsessed lead Dre witnessing a series of strange events as she attempts to mend her broken mobile phone. And in one scene, there's real-life CNN footage of Don Lemon reeling off the various scandals involving Donald Trump, with the anchorman stating that "only criminals plead the fifth." This, of course, was a reference to the civil fraud investigation in which the 45th pleaded the fifth over 400 times during his deposition.
It's not known whether Obama or co-writer Jamie Nabers decided to include the clip. But judging by the latter's comments to Entertainment Weekly, the former seems the most likely: "Some of her pitches were wild as hell, and they were just so good and so fun. She's an incredible writer. She brought a lot to the table ... She's really, really dedicated to her craft."