Obama jokingly claims Malia and Sasha have ‘PTSD’ from Secret Service agents accompanying them on dates

Former president says his daughters were embarrassed by Secret Service ‘talking and walking with microphones and glasses’

Barack Obama has joked about the lasting impact the constant presence of Secret Service agents during Sasha and Malia’s teenage years had on his daughters.

The former president reflected on the family’s time in the White House, and what it meant for his and Michelle Obama’s daughters, who were seven and 10 when they first moved in but grew into teenagers during the eight years, during an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden.

In response to Corden’s question about whether Sasha, 19, or Malia, 22, would have any interest in public service, Mr Obama replied laughing: “First of all, them as teenagers and having Secret Service guys follow them when they were going out on dates, I think probably has shut down their interest in public service.”

The 59-year-old then joked that his daughters still suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder from the experience, continuing: “They still have PTSD from our guys talking and walking with microphones and glasses as they are trying to go to a music concert.”

Apart from Sasha and Malia’s possible lasting aversion to constant security, the father-of-two also told Corden that a life of public service requires a “certain tolerance for nonsense and silliness and meanness” and that, as a father, he wants to protect his daughters from that.

“I think they are probably going to find other ways to serve rather than run for office,” he said, adding that if they did decide to follow in his footsteps, he would be “exceptionally proud” of them.

This is not the first time the former president has opened up about the dating lives of his daughters, as he previously revealed during an appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast that Malia’s British boyfriend quarantined with the family early on in the pandemic.

At the time, Mr Obama expressed his approval of his daughter’s choice in a partner, telling host Ben Simmons and guest Bakari Sellers: “He’s British, a wonderful young man, and he was sort of stuck because there was a whole visa thing and he had a job set up.

“So we took him in and I didn’t want to like him, but he’s a good kid.”