A former White House aide is calling Michelle Obama’s East Wing the “Worst Wing” due to the first lady’s micromanaging and high-stress work environment.
In a New Republic article, titled “The Worst Wing: How the East Wing Shrunk Michelle Obama,” Reid Cherlin, who worked as an assistant press secretary in the West Wing, describes a “high-stress, high-stakes workplace, in which Mrs. Obama scrutinized the smallest facets of her schedule.”
“Aides in both wings of the White House say she insists on planning every move months in advance and finalizing speeches weeks ahead of time — a rigidity nearly unheard of in today’s chaotic political environment,” he said.
Mr. Cherlin said aides grapple for scraps of Mrs. Obama’s attention, causing deep-seated jealousy and discontentment.
“Fueling these sentiments, according to former East Wing insiders, is the exacting but often ambivalent leadership style of the first lady herself,” he wrote.
One former aide to the first lady told Mr. Cherlin that each meeting “was like an identity crisis, whether you got invited or not.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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