First lady Michelle Obama frequently pressed her presidential husband to take up the African-American cause and publicly side with blacks on certain high-profile matters, a new book about Secret Service secrets claimed.
In “The First Family Detail,” author Ronald Kessler wrote that Secret Service agents often overheard Mrs. Obama to “be more aggressive in attacking Republicans and to side with blacks in racial controversies,” the Daily Mail reported.
One such controversy: The shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman. Following that incident, Mr. Obama remarked on the public stage: “That could have been me 35 years ago,” in reference to Trayvon, various media reported.
Mr. Kessler also referred to the much-publicized beer summit at the White House — where Mr. Obama called the arrest of his Harvard University acquaintance “stupid” before he knew all the police facts of the case — as another example of Mrs. Obama’s influence on the president’s race-based reactions.
The book also details that Mrs. Obama is actually well-regarded by many of her Secret Service agents.
“Michelle is friendly — she touches you,” one agent is cited as saying in the book, the Daily Mail reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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