Former first lady Michelle Obama has been keeping busy during the coronavirus quarantine but she took time to chat about the outbreak and how it's impacting her family with television host Ellen DeGeneres on Monday.
DeGeneres, who has been sharing videos chatting with her friends while she socially distances at her house in Santa Barbara — shared a video of her calling the former first lady.
The two chatted about the Obama girls — Sasha, 18, and Malia, 21 — being back in the house after returning from college amid the outbreak.
“My condolences that the kids are home,” DeGeneres joked. “Because you were saying how happy you are that they’re gone.”
“I know, I shouldn’t have boasted about that,” Obama laughed. “The gods are getting me back!”
Obama added this is a unique time in history and has been a learning opportunity for her family.
“There’s some good and bad that goes with it. I feel for all the folks who are going to suffer because of what’s going to happen to the economy and we have to be mindful about what we’re going to do to support those folks when this quarantine is over," she said. “And that is a negative, but on the positive side, I know for us, it’s forced us to sit down with each other, to have real conversations — you know — really ask questions and figure out how to keep ourselves occupied without just TV or computers.”
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She said she wants her kids to understand that they’re lucky to have each other and their health during tough times like now.
“Be grateful for what you have and be ready to share it when the time comes. Because that’s really what it’s all about,” Obama explained. “Now we’re just happy that we’re together and everybody is healthy and safe — who cares about the other stuff?”
"The Ellen DeGeneres Show" suspended production — like most television shows — amid the coronavirus pandemic. Previously, DeGeneres said they expect to resume taping March 30.
