Michelle Obama's new podcast dubbed ‘flop and boring’ as Fox News mocks former First Lady over dismal viewership

Michelle Obama and her brother Craig Robinson's podcast's first two episodes struggled to reach 30,000 views in 20 hours, drawing criticism from netizens.

Published on: Mar 13, 2025, 18:59:42 IST

By Shweta Kukreti

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

Michelle Obama and her brother Craig Robinson have started a new weekly podcast. The first two episodes of ‘IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson’ were released on Wednesday. However, both the episodes struggled to reach 30,000 views in 20 hours, drawing criticism from netizens.

Michelle Obama reveals her podcast with Craig Robinson, 'IMO,' launching Wednesday. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) (AP)

Netizens on X debate about the discrepancy between her media exposure and the audience that IMO was able to reach. While both the episodes are almost an hour long, the podcast appears to be struggling to draw listeners given the drastically reduced attention span of internet users.

“Nobody asked for this,” said several netizens in the YouTube comment section for episodes.

“Nobody wants it. We have all heard what she believes, and nobody wants the America she wants. It’s pretty simple,” one X user wrote on X.

“This would be a good ‘punishment podcast',” another commented.

Also Read: Hamas welcomes Donald Trump's U-turn on Gaza mass expulsion plan; ‘We call for this position…’

Fox News calls Michelle Obama's podcast ‘flop’ and ‘boring’

Jesse Watters, the host of Fox News, declared Michelle's podcast a “flop” just hours after it was released.

During Wednesday night's episode of Jesse Watters Primetime, Watters stated that he had been speculating where the former First Lady had disappeared after missing a number of significant events like the funeral for former President Jimmy Carter and the inauguration of President Donald Trump.

“Turns out, Michelle has been busy working on a new podcast, and so far, it’s been a flop,” he quipped. “The first two episodes have been up all day and only gotten a few thousand views on YouTube. Half of them are probably Primetime producers, but still.”

On Wednesday, the first two episodes of the show were made available, one of which starred actress Issa Rae. Both episodes had only approximately 21,000 views on YouTube by late evening, but thousands of listeners gave the podcast positive ratings on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

The episodes highlighted how Michelle trained Barack Obama to be ready on time for particular events, and revealed that their daughters Sasha and Malia detested the White House custom of forgiving turkeys for Thanksgiving.

Meanwhile, Fox News' Rachel Campos-Duffy also called the show “boring.”

“This would’ve been such interesting stories about 15 years ago. I don’t care about any of these stories; I didn’t even find them funny.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shweta Kukreti
Shweta Kukreti has over 8 years of experience in covering Indian and world politics. She joined the Hindustan Times in 2024 and is primarily assigned to the US desk. She currently works as Deputy Chief Content Producer and reports on a wide range of topics, including US politics, immigration issues (especially H-1B visa) and major global events. Shweta strongly emphasizes team operations, which encompasses monitoring news, delegating tasks, editing, developing comprehensive coverage strategies, and crafting engaging, and data-informed narratives. She received the Digi Star Award at the Hindustan Times within a year of joining for her broad coverage of US politics. In 2025, she earned both a promotion and a redesignation, a significant achievement recognising her contributions and the strong value she brings to the team. She has previously worked with the Indian Express, HTDS, ANI and Republic World. Seniors in all the media organisations recognised her work. Regarding education, she earned a BA (Hons.) in Political Science and a master's degree from Delhi University, and she pursued a PG Diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Institution of Mass Communication (IIMC). She also holds a diploma in Women's Empowerment and Development from IGNOU University and a French certification course from Alliance Française de Delhi. If not working, you can find her exploring the hills and engaging in adventurous activities in Rishikesh and Himachal Pradesh. She loves to play badminton, volleyball, and chess, and spend time with her friends and family. She also enjoys spiritual activities.Read More

Stay updated with US News covering politics, crime, weather, local events, and sports highlights. Get the latest on Donald Trump and American politics along with Horoscope 2026.