Like father, like daughter? Former president Barack Obama's younger daughter seems to be having a hard time breaking a harmful habit that her dad also did for years.
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00:00Like father, like daughter, former President Barack Obama's younger daughter seems to be
00:05having a hard time breaking a harmful habit that her dad also did for years.
00:09Sasha Obama lives in Los Angeles with her big sis Malia Obama,
00:13and it seems they still share a common vice — smoking. Sasha was spotted out
00:18driving her car in Los Angeles as she indulged in a cigarette. Sasha got her sociology degree
00:23from the University of Southern California in May 2024, and she seemed deep in thought
00:27as she cruised through L.A. traffic. Of course, Sasha's smoking habit probably wouldn't rouse
00:32much interest if she was just another Gen Z public figure, but given that her father was
00:36President of the United States for eight years, it always incites a bit of mild controversy.
00:41Sasha's smoking photo cropped up roughly a year after photogs caught Malia taking a
00:46break from her burgeoning film career by indulging in a smoke of her own.
00:49According to OK! Magazine, Malia was also captured smoking in Los Angeles in October
00:542023, surrounded by a group of friends. Sasha still tries to stay out of the public eye.
00:59Malia has only recently started opening up to the press as she promotes her creative endeavors,
01:03so she has never spoken about how it feels to have her vices broadcast to the world. But Barack?
01:08His former smoking habit has been well-documented. In 2009, the then-newly elected president answered
01:14a reporter's questions about it at a press conference, saying,
01:17As a former smoker, I constantly struggle with it.
01:21Have I fallen off the wagon sometimes? Yes."
01:23But Barack said he was 95 percent cured by then, and made sure not to smoke in front of his kids.
01:28In 2018, after he had left office, Barack stumped for some congressional candidates
01:33in Anaheim, California. He said smoking got him into some trouble when he was younger,
01:37recounting how, after a Kool & the Gang concert, he went to Disneyland with some friends.
01:41A few of us were… smoking. On the gondolas."
01:46Unsurprisingly, Disneyland security wasn't having it. The former president said he was
01:51approached by two very large police officers, and,
01:54I was booted from the Magic Kingdom."
01:57Barack did note that his removal wasn't a permanent expulsion from Disneyland.
02:01The officers said he and his friends could come back. For her part, Sasha hasn't been
02:05kicked out of any theme parks for smoking, but she has taken some social media flack for it.
02:10Most of the backlash hasn't been about the very legitimate health concerns,
02:13such as lung cancer, that smoking can lead to. Still, Sasha has also generated support
02:18from social media. And it's not just celebs who've defended her and her sister, Malia.
02:22For example, one fan on Reddit didn't tiptoe around the fact that smoking can be detrimental,
02:26but they did remind folks that most people experiment with vices in their 20s.
02:30They sarcastically wrote,
02:32"...a 22-year-old has bad habits. More news at 10."
02:35Just to note, Sasha turned 23 back in June.
02:38Several more users also felt the need to stick up for Sasha's right to live her life
02:41on her own terms. Despite public opinion, one wrote,
02:44"...I feel sorry for her. Her life is none of their business. She can do what she wants
02:49as long as she isn't hurting anyone."
02:50Of course, many of the comments were simply jokes. Quite a few sarcastically noted that
02:55Barack couldn't run for president again. For instance, one commented,
02:58Gaining 23,000 upvotes? This is really going to hurt Obama's election campaign.