Skip to main contentSkip to footer

Barack Obama reveals fears for daughters' Malia and Sasha's safety

The former US President shares two children with Michelle Obama

michelle obama family home
Jenni McKnight
US Lifestyle Editor
Share this:

Barack Obama has opened up about his daughters, Malia, 22, and Sasha, 19, revealing he is always worried about their safety.

The former President of the United States spoke candidly to Anderson Cooper, admitting: "I always worry about their physical safety; that’s just the nature of fatherhood."

MORE: Michelle and Barack Obama traded The White House for $8.1million mansion

But there is one area he is not concerned about, adding: "But in terms of them having a good sense of what’s right and wrong, and their part and role to play in making the country better, I don’t worry about that."

WATCH: Michelle Obama opens up on life without Malia and Sasha

Barack admitted that his offspring are "so much wiser, more sophisticated, and gifted than I was at their age" telling the CNN anchor: "What you and I might have tolerated as 'That’s sort of how things are,' their attitude is 'Why? Let’s change it.'

"That’s among not just my daughters, but it’s among their white friends. There’s this sense of, ‘Of course, it’s not acceptable for a criminal justice system to be tainted by racism.

"Of course you can’t discriminate against somebody because their sexual orientation.' There’s things they take for granted that I want them to take for granted."

MORE: Malia and Sasha Obama steal the show in previously-unseen family photo with their dad

MORE: Barack Obama mourns sad family death with heartbreaking tribute

barack obama daughters© Photo: Getty Images

Barack is constantly worried about his daughters' physical safety

Obama's latest admission comes after he revealed that he and his wife Michelle worried about whether their children would end up as "weird kids".

"They don't have an attitude – that was what me and Michelle were worried about the most and I write about this in the book – when I talked about running, are we going to end up with weird kids?" he told James Corden on The Late Late Show in May.

"And Michelle and my mother-in-law were very good with saying, 'Listen, you have to make your own beds, you have to wake yourselves up'."

michelle obama barack daughters© Photo: Getty Images

Barack and Michelle are very proud of their children

Barack also talked about how proud he was of his daughters and how he wanted to protect them from the scrutinies that would come from him holding a high office.

"They have just turned in exceptional young women," he said. "I could not be prouder of them, not because they're smart and accomplished, but they're just kind people."

Read more HELLO! US stories here

Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.

More Parenting

See more