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Barack Obama, Prince Harry, and Joe Biden Are Now Hanging Out


This past week Prince Harry spent some time with a couple of Very Important People while attending the Invictus Games—a week-long international sporting event he started for injured servicemen and women in Toronto—and honestly, it’s been a gift. One day he posed with First Lady Melania Trump and made some highly inscrutable hand gestures, and the next he was seen for the first time in public (and holding hands with) girlfriend Meghan Markle. The prince was also spotted making no less than 30 silly faces at an adorable young girl who tried to steal his popcorn during the games.

And it gets better (and bro-ier): Prince Harry spent the last day of the event kicking it with former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his wife Jill.

The group looked like they were having the best time, which isn’t surprising considering Prince Harry and Obama are already real-life pals. They’ve hung out together at Kensington Palace, after all. (Same.) And we all know the love couldn’t be more real between Obama and Biden.

Below, we present a few shots of the guys enjoying the games together:

PHOTO: Karwai Tang

Day 7: Invictus Games Toronto 2017

PHOTO: Karwai Tang

Day 7: Invictus Games Toronto 2017

PHOTO: Karwai Tang

Day 7: Invictus Games Toronto 2017

PHOTO: Samir Hussein

Day 7: Invictus Games Toronto 2017

PHOTO: Samir Hussein

Day 7: Invictus Games Toronto 2017

PHOTO: Samir Hussein

It’s nice to see this group hanging out, especially considering how busy each has been lately. Obama recently dropped his daughter Malia off at college and he’s been fighting for DACA. Prince Harry has been dealing with engagement rumors. And Biden’s been spending plenty of time championing women and generally being a model feminist. He also voiced his support for friend and actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who on Thursday revealed she’s been diagnosed with breast cancer.

So basically, you couldn’t ask for a cooler reunion.

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Michelle Obama Says Any Woman Who Voted Against Hillary Clinton Voted 'Against Their Own Voice'


PHOTO: Paul Morigi/Getty Images

Former First Lady Michelle Obama has some pointed words for women who voted for Donald Trump. During a conversation with author Roxanne Gay at Boston’s Inbound marketing conference on Wednesday, Obama told the audience that “Any woman who voted against Hillary Clinton voted against their own voice.”

Despite assuring America that he would be terrific for women, Donald Trump attitude, actions, and comments toward women throughout his pre-presidential life seem to contradict his claims. And since taking office, the President has taken numerous steps to roll back women’s rights (case in point: last month he reversed an Obama-era policy meant to promote equal pay).

Nonetheless, the former first lady made clear that both she and Barack are still hoping for the best when it comes to Trump. “We want him to be successful,” Obama said. “He was elected.”

And as someone who has first-hand experience living in the White House—and whose husband dealt with Congress that was determined to make his time in office as unproductive as possible—Obama understands the stress that comes with the job.

“We’ve chosen to be supportive of this administration,” she added. “There was an entire party that didn’t support my husband.”

Moving on from Trump, Obama hit back at Republicans in Congress who have repeatedly tried—and failed—to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

“The Affordable Care Act isn’t Barack’s legacy,” she said. “It’s the country’s legacy.”

She also told the crowd that, despite missing “the people and the work” in the White House, she does not miss being first lady. Saying the experience was like “being shot out of a cannon…with a blindfold and the spotlight on you,” Obama said that being out of the office feels like she and her family are “breathing for the first time.”

As the Q+A drew to a close, the first lady’s conversation with Gay ended on a lighter note. When asked what her favorite song on Beyonce’s Lemonade is, Obama answered “all of them,” before adding that “Love Drought” was the one she played “over and over.”



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Barack Obama Admits He Cried After Dropping Malia Off At College


Barack Obama taught the American public countless life lessons during his tenure as president, but perhaps one of the most important teachings he passed on is that it’s totally OK to cry in public.

Be it at events, press conferences, funerals, or the signing of new legislation, Obama has never shied away from his emotions. And on Monday, Obama wore his heart on his sleeve once more by telling the audience at an event for the Beau Biden Foundation that he let the waterworks flow when he dropped off Malia, his eldest daughter, at college.

“For those of us who have daughters, it just happens fast. I dropped off Malia at college, and I was saying to Joe and Jill (Biden) that it was a little bit like open-heart surgery,” Obama said during his surprise appearance in front of the 600 attendees of the event.

“I was proud that I did not cry in front of her,” Obama added. “But on the way back, the Secret Service was off, looking straight ahead, pretending they weren’t hearing me as I sniffled and blew my nose. It was rough.”

Beyond his frequent and unabashed tears, Obama has also spoken out more than once on the importance of family and just how much fatherhood has meant to him. In fact, during his farewell address to the nation, Obama looked to his daughters Sasha and Malia and said, “Of all that I’ve done in my life, I am most proud to be your dad.”

At the event honoring the life and legacy of Beau Biden, Obama noted that saying goodbye to his daughter as he dropped her off for her freshman year at Harvard is “a reminder that, at the end of our lives, whatever else we’ve accomplished, the things that we’ll remember are the joys that our children—and hopefully way later, our grandchildren—bring us.”

He added that he was there to honor Beau, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden who tragically died of brain cancer in 2015, because he wanted to lend his “support to a family that (he cares) deeply about, to honor a man that (he) thought the world of, and to say thank you to all of you for supporting this wonderful cause.”

The event’s mission was to raise funds for the Foundation, which Delaware Online explained works to “expand and continue work training adults in child abuse prevention and kids and families in bully prevention.”

“It is proper and right that somebody as thoughtful and genuine and strong as Beau made it one of his missions that every child has protection,” Obama said in his speech.

Overall, the event raised more than $400,000 for the incredible cause, according to Delaware Online. While thanking his friend for his appearance at the event and sharing such a personal story about fatherhood, Biden joked, “Mr. President, you’ve been a great friend. Everybody, I think what they miss most is our memes. Mr. President, I can’t surprise you by giving you a medal of freedom, but I can give you a group of people who think you brought a lot of freedom to this country.”



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Obama Slams Trump's DACA Decision in Powerful Facebook Post: 'This Is About Basic Decency'


Barack Obama made it clear before he left office: If the Dreamers program ever came under attack, he’d have something to say about it. On Tuesday, in the wake of President Donald Trump’s orders to end DACA, the former commander in chief stayed true to his word.

On Tuesday afternoon, Obama shared a powerful Facebook post defending DACA (short for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), a federal program he created in 2012 to protect undocumented immigrants who entered the United States illegally as children from deportation. The program also offers its beneficiaries, known as Dreamers, such basic necessities as driver’s licenses and work permits.

Though U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday called DACA an “open-ended circumvention of immigration laws,” Obama pointed out there’s more to it than that.

“This is about young people who grew up in America—kids who study in our schools, young adults who are starting careers, patriots who pledge allegiance to our flag,” he wrote. “These Dreamers are Americans in their hearts, in their minds, in every single way but one: on paper. They were brought to this country by their parents, sometimes even as infants. They may not know a country besides ours. They may not even know a language besides English. They often have no idea they’re undocumented until they apply for a job, or college, or a driver’s license.”

Trump’s call to end DACA jeopardizes the futures of around 800,000 people who benefit from the program. Obama didn’t mince his words, calling the decision “wrong,” “self-defeating,” and “cruel.”

“To target these young people is wrong—because they have done nothing wrong,” he wrote. “It is self-defeating —because they want to start new businesses, staff our labs, serve in our military, and otherwise contribute to the country we love. And it is cruel. What if our kid’s science teacher, or our friendly neighbor turns out to be a Dreamer? Where are we supposed to send her? To a country she doesn’t know or remember, with a language she may not even speak?”

“Ultimately, this is about basic decency,” Obama continued. “This is about whether we are a people who kick hopeful young strivers out of America, or whether we treat them the way we’d want our own kids to be treated. It’s about who we are as a people—and who we want to be.”

Plenty of current and former lawmakers joined Obama in standing up for DACA, including Hillary Clinton, who tweeted that “we’ve got to fight with everything we’ve got” to defend the program.

“Subjecting Dreamers to mass deportation is part of the bigoted policies that are a cornerstone of @realDonaldTrump’s admin,” Senator Elizabeth Warren (D.–Mass.) tweeted.

You can read Obama’s full Facebook post here.



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Michelle Obama Dressed Up as Beyoncé for Bey's Birthday, and It's Absolute Perfection


Today is Beyoncé’s 36th birthday, and those inside and outside of the Beyhive are paying due homage to Queen B—hubby Jay Z even got an entire music festival crowd to sing “Happy Birthday” to her. (To be honest, we’re just surprised it wasn’t a spontaneous effort.) There was one birthday surprise lurking on the singer’s website, though—and it involves a not-insignificant group of women in Bey’s inner circle dressed up in one of the singer’s most iconic “Formation” looks. One of them just so happens to be former FLOTUS, and close friend, Michelle Obama. And she nailed it.

We know what you’re thinking, and no, a more perfect celeb friendship does not—and will never—exist. The Obamas and Carters, after all, have a history that goes deep—to the point where a video clip of Barack Obama referencing Bey’s impending twins went viral because Twitter surmised that he’d possibly just revealed their gender. And you have to be really tight with the Carter camp to get that kind of intel. Beyoncé and Michelle Obama have even been known to party together (which, where was our invite to this?)—and who can forget all the way back in 2008, when Queen B sang “At Last” at Barack’s first inauguration? Or when they collaborated on then-FLOTUS’ famous “Let’s Move” campaign? Or B’s letter to Michelle in 2012, saying that she was proud Blue Ivy had Michelle to look up to?

(Puts away tissues.)

Anywho, in honor of Bey’s b’day, this photo series was released on the singer’s website, and it’s the closest thing to perfection this good green Earth has ever seen. Ready for this?

Here’s Michelle:

Jay Z’s mom, Gloria Carter, also got in on it.

Beyoncé’s mom, Tina Knowles Larson, showed up for the shoot, too.

As did Serena Williams.

Even Blue Ivy makes an appearance, which we CANNOT handle.

It’s all too much, to be honest. But that’s exactly how Bey’s birthday should be, right? See the rest of the absolutely fantastic doppelgängers—including former Destiny’s Child members Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams—on Beyonce.com.

Related Stories:
–Beyoncé Is Kicking Off Her Birthday Weekend With the Whole Crew
–This Video of Beyoncé and Michelle Obama Partying Together Will Make You Jealous
–An Entire Music Festival Crowd Just Paid Their Birthday Respects to Beyoncé



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