Michelle Obama joins Rachael Ray for a conversation on voting, the upcoming election, and building resilience during the pandemic

 

Plus, she tells Rachael she’s started knitting in quarantine, and uses a pseudonym to learn from knitting tutors online!

 

Airs Wednesday, September 30

 

 

Monday, September 28, 2020 – New York, N.Y. – In a daytime exclusive, former First Lady Michelle Obama joins Rachael Ray on Wednesday, September 30, for a wide-ranging conversation, covering the importance of voting in the upcoming election; how her family is handling extended time together during quarantine and what young people are learning about resilience; and the new hobby she’s picked up while staying at home.

 

“I’ve started knitting,” Mrs. Obama tells Rachael. “Over the course of this quarantine, I have knitted a blanket, like five scarves, three halter tops, a couple of hats for Barack, and I just finished my first pair of mittens for Malia. One is twice as big as the other.”

 

And while she has gone online for knitting advice, she admits, “They don’t know I’m in the knitting community because I don’t use my real name, but I have some knitting tutors who I kind of go through to get my yarn and my patterns and all that.”

 

You can check out a clip here: https://rach.tv/3ifWGNb

 

Links to additional quotes and clips from the interview are below.

 

Rachael and Mrs. Obama also talk about the need to better educate young people about the privilege and importance of voting – which leads them to sing a bit of “Schoolhouse Rock!” as they reminisce about their own civics lessons growing up! (Clip here on RachaelRayShow.com and YouTube)

 

Mrs. Obama also talks about how she thinks the events of 2020 are teaching America’s youth about resilience, her support for Joe Biden in the upcoming election, and her new podcast.

 

Additional quotes from the conversation are below. Please note these clips are for online use only and must be embedded; we can provide clips for broadcast upon request. Must link back to RachaelRayShow.com and mention Wednesday, September 30 air date. Viewers can find showtimes in their area here.

 

For more information, please contact:

 

Paige Landsem

Director of Publicity, RACHAEL RAY

503-816-9412

Paige.Landsem@cbs.com

 

Mrs. Obama on taking up knitting during quarantine – and how she uses a pseudonym to learn from other knitters online (clip here on RachaelRayShow.com and YouTube):

 

Rachael: Did you think that during this time somehow you would work less, or somehow you'd find some hidden talents and hobbies that you were fabulous at?

 

Mrs. Obama: I’ve started knitting. Over the course of this quarantine, I have knitted a blanket, like five scarves, three halter tops, a couple of hats for Barack, and I just finished my first pair of mittens for Malia. One is twice as big as the other. I’m still working on my stitching gauge.

 

Rachael: That’s fantastic.

 

Mrs. Obama: I’m a knitter. They don’t know I’m in the knitting community because I don’t use my real name, but I have some knitting tutors who I kind of go through to get my yarn and my patterns and all that.

 

Mrs. Obama, in response to a viewer’s question about whether President Obama and their daughters have gotten on her nerves during quarantine (clip here on RachaelRayShow.com and YouTube):

 

“They can. It’s really interesting, because sometimes Barack just comes into the room, and I’m in the middle of something, and he’s like, ‘What are you doing?’

 

‘And I’m like - nothing. Nothing. Just please go.’ Sometimes you just don’t want to talk. You’re not ready for a check-in when they are. So, yeah. Quarantine started out so lovely. There was the first phase when we were all together, and we’d go apart, and then we’d come together…then right around June, all that magic started wearing off. So, yes. Barack Obama is a wonderful man, but he is still a man.”

 

On the privilege and responsibility of voting (clip here on RachaelRayShow.com and YouTube):

 

We just don't have those discussions anymore about the importance of voting. A lot of civics classes have been taken out of the curriculum. A lot of young people aren't being raised with a conversation about our democratic process and understanding how our democracy works, and the three branches of government, and state and federal separation of powers, and what the Supreme Court stands for. So many people don’t know because we haven’t made it a priority like we did growing up.

 

I’m 56, and I remember voting with my father, who voted in every single election. My father had MS. That meant he could only get around with the assistance of a cane or crutches, and later he was on a motorized cart. Even as he struggled to walk down to a polling place that wasn’t necessarily suited for somebody with a disability, my father never missed an election ever, ever.

 

I remember voting with him when we were little, and they had the machines with the little levers that you click. It would close the curtain and I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is such an awesome responsibility, and my father is taking this incredibly seriously.’ When it was time for me to vote, I did it with enthusiasm and pride.

 

On how the pandemic and events of 2020 are teaching young people about resiliency and reimagining their futures:

 

We’ve taught our kids you can make a plan, and if you execute it, this and that will happen. Well, we know as we get older that life throws you a whole bunch of curves. There are a lot of things outside your control. Learning to embrace that without letting it suffocate, learning how to be flexible with life, learning that there is no one way to live this life right…I’m hoping through our conversations with our young people that we’re helping them through this, and giving understanding that this is what resilience is. This thing we talk about is being able to push through even when things are tough. When things don’t work out as you planned, to find a way to reshape and reimagine.