Michelle Obama calls out Ellen DeGeneres for making her do pushups as ‘first lady’
Michelle Obama recounted how Ellen DeGeneres challenged her to a push-up competition during her husband's presidency.
Michelle Obama has called out Ellen DeGeneres for making her do pushups on air during former President Barack Obama's first term at the White House. During Tuesday's episode of Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast, the 61-year-old brought up the topic when the host asked her if she could still do pushups while discussing ageing.

Michelle Obama calls out Ellen DeGeneres for making her do pushups when she was first lady
“Ellen … my first term, she challenged me to a push-up competition,” Michelle told Poehler, adding, “I’m the first lady, you know.” The former first lady shared that at the time, the comedian had “heard that I worked out.”
Michelle went on to say, “So I’m on her show doing push-ups and I did more push-ups than her but she still says I didn’t go down all the way,” adding, “Anatomically, I don’t think I can. My arms are very long and she’s a much smaller person than me.”
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The said incident happened in 2012 when the former first lady made an appearance on DeGeneres' eponymous talk show. After discussing Michelle's workout routine at the time, the 67-year-old teased, “I was just wondering if you could do more push-ups than I could do.”
To which, Michelle responded, “You know, it depends on how your back is. I know you’ve got these back issues.” The Becoming author won by performing 25 pushups. Elsewhere in the podcast, she discussed her bedtime “battles” with her husband.
“It’s a battle with a partner because he’s always cold and I’m like, ‘Do not touch [the thermostat].’ … Sometimes I wake up hot and I’ll wake him up [to ask], ‘Did you touch the thermostat? You touched it, didn’t you?'” Michelle said of Barack.