What Joe Biden's Grandkids Had To Say About Sasha And Malia Obama
According to Joe Biden's grandchildren, their friendship with Sasha Obama and Malia Obama didn't end when the Trumps moved into the White House. And while Donald Trump's adult children were more involved in his administration than most presidents' progeny, it seems that the younger Bidens prefer to seek advice from the Obama sisters about navigating life with the leader of the free world as a family member.
In 2021, four of Joe's adult granddaughters appeared on "Today" and spoke about their special bond with Sasha and Malia. The conversation featured Natalie Biden, the daughter of Joe's late son Beau Biden; and Hunter Biden's daughters Naomi Biden, Finnegan Biden, and Maisy Biden. The Biden and Obama girls go way back. In 2008, Sasha and Finnegan organized a slumber party for the group before Barack Obama won his White House bid. At the time, the two party planners were 7 and 10, respectively.
"They cleared out the room, put down futons, they had popcorn and stuff. And there are, I don't know, seven, eight, nine little kids in there," Joe recalled during a fundraising event, as reported by The Guardian. He also revealed that seeing the kids having so much fun together made him feel good about accepting Obama's offer to be his running mate. "I didn't have any doubt after that why the hell I took this job," he said. His granddaughters got some potential lifelong friends out of the deal, so they have to be pretty happy about it, too.
Why Joe Biden's granddaughters admire Sasha and Malia Obama
Finnegan Biden told "Today" that she, her sisters, and their cousin Natalie Biden have a deep admiration for Sasha Obama and Malia Obama because their lives were far from easy during the two terms of their father's presidency. Having famous parents is stressful enough as it is without having to adjust to secret service agents tailing you everywhere. Then there's the pressure to be on your best behavior lest you make headlines for looking checked out while your dad cracks jokes. "They came out so grounded and humble, and they're so smart and driven, so I think we can only take advice from them," Finnegan said. Maisy Biden added, "You can only hope to do as well as they did because they just did it so beautifully."
Joe Biden's granddaughters aren't exactly in the same boat as the Obama sisters, as they missed out on growing up in the White House. However, Naomi Biden and her husband Peter Neal did move into the historical residence. Joe's granddaughters also attend events at the White House, such as state dinners. This is when inside info from Sasha and Malia could come in handy.
Aside from being wellsprings of helpful advice, it seems that the Obama sibs are simply fun to hang out with. In April 2023, TMZ published photos of Malia, Finnegan, and Maisy sharing a laugh as they strolled down a Manhattan sidewalk together after a lunch outing.
Maisy Biden and Sasha Obama bonded over basketball
Maisy Biden and Sasha Obama grew especially close growing up because they were both students at D.C.'s Sidwell Friends School. In the fourth grade, they even played on the same basketball team. Oh, and their coach just happened to be basketball fanatic Barack Obama. "Maisy was like the LeBron of the league," Obama said on the "Armchair Expert" podcast. "She dominated. She was great, you know, and we went undefeated."
On "Today," Maisy recalled how other teams took issue with the commander-in-chief being allowed to be a coach, but you can't argue with results. "I mean, we won," she said. In 2017, Maisy and Sasha were spotted hanging out in South Beach with some of their other friends, according to Hola, and during a 2019 campaign stop, Joe Biden told a group of his supporters in Iowa that Sasha was Maisy's "best friend." As reported by The Hill, he revealed that the Biden and Obama families had even thrown a joint party for the close pals when they graduated high school.
While the two girls seem to have a lot in common, Maisy is active on social media, whereas Sasha doesn't have any public accounts. If her feelings about using it to interact with the public change someday, perhaps she'll appear in one of Maisy and Naomi's Kardashian lip sync videos on TikTok. And who knows? America just might have another Obama-Biden presidential ticket in its future.