Michelle Obama begins arena tour in talk with Oprah

Obama turned to her husband, who had just become a former president. “I said to Barack, ‘That was so hard, what we just did. That was so hard.” She said she didn’t mention that episode in her book.

She didn’t criticize Trump directly at the event despite direct criticism of him in her book.

She writes in “Becoming” that Trump’s “loud and reckless innuendos” about her husband’s birth certificate stirred people up and put “my family’s safety at risk.” And for this,” she adds, “I’d never forgive him.”

Trump responded last week, saying Michelle Obama “got paid a lot of money” to write that book and they always expect a little controversy.” The current president said that he’d never forgive his predecessor for making the country “very unsafe.”

When Winfrey, who selected “Becoming” for her influential book club , introduced Obama she referred to the divisive political climate, also without directly naming Trump.

“So many people are feeling uneasy… afraid of the impending darkness,” Winfrey told the audience. “But you all being here tonight is a testament to the light.”

“Becoming” describes Obama’s upbringing on Chicago’s South Side and her transition to college at Princeton University. As she does in her book, she recounted Tuesday being raised in a family that struggled economically — but with parents who encouraged her to be successful.

When she was a child, she said her dad would complain to her mother that she wasn’t teaching her children how to wash socks, because he had had so few socks growing up that he had to wash them and dry them on a radiator himself.

“My mom said, ‘I’m not teaching them how to wash their socks. I’m going to teach them to go to college, so they can buy a washing machine,’” Obama said Tuesday.

She also talked about learning how to play the piano on a rickety one and her surprise at seeing her first piano that was in good condition.

“You mean there are perfect pianos out there?” she recalled thinking. “I didn’t even know about it.”

The memoir, officially released Tuesday, is already a bestseller. It topped Amazon.com’s bestseller list throughout the weekend.

The tour that started in Chicago moves on to Los Angles, Washington, Detroit, Paris and London, and other U.S. cities. It ends next month in New York City.

Tens of thousands of people purchased tickets to Obama’s United Center appearance — paying from just under $30 to hundreds or even thousands of dollars for VIP packages. No tickets are available online for some stops.

Although some fans have complained about the high cost, 10 per cent of tickets costs are being donated to local charities, schools and community groups.

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AP Writer Jeff Karoub in Detroit also contributed.

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Follow Michael Tarm on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mtarm

Michael Tarm, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Michelle Obama begins arena tour in talk with Oprah

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