Despite the prominence of social media, maintaining a private life is something that’s incredibly important—even more so if you’re a celebrity or a public figure, who to be in the spotlight way more than the rest of us. But everyone need spaces to make their own decisions—especially if they’re someone like Malia Obama, who spent eight incredibly formative years in the White House because her dad was leading the world. Now on her own—and on her own as a private citizen—the 19-year-old Harvard freshman has been the subject of a few articles lately after two videos of the former President’s daughter circulated around the Internet.
In one, she was kissing a young man who seemed to be a fellow student at a tailgate party; in another she appeared to be blowing smoke rings. Neither of those are entirely unusual behaviors for a college student—but she’s not getting the same kind of slack as those of us who weren’t raised by the former commander-in-chief. Instead, gossip sites rushed to post the videos.
Luckily, she’s had a few people stick up for her—and one of the more suprising duos have been Ivanka Trump and Chelsea Clinton. Despite coming from opposite sides of the aisle, they also had to contend with growing up under the spotlight thanks to famous parents—a position none of these three women ever asked for. Trump and Clinton took to Twitter on Friday to defend Obama’s right to choose to live as a private citizen—and enjoy college!—now that she’s out of the White House.
Ivanka Trump tweeted: “Malia Obama should be allowed the same privacy as her school aged peers. She is a young adult and private citizen, and should be OFF limits.”
Chelsea Clinton also spoke out against those sharing the videos: “Malia Obama’s private life, as a young woman, a college student, a private citizen, should not be your clickbait. Be better.”
https://twitter.com/ChelseaClinton/status/934118380835082242
Clinton also tweeted earlier this year asking the public to give Barron Trump his privacy as well. She said, “It’s high time the media & everyone leave Barron Trump alone & let him have the private childhood he deserves.”
https://twitter.com/ChelseaClinton/status/899783109293617153
It’s pretty great that these two ladies—among many, many other users—came to bat for Obama. Now if everyone else could just do the same.
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–Barack Obama Admits He Cried After Dropping Malia Off at College
–Read the Lovely Letter the Bush Sisters Wrote to Malia and Sasha Obama
–Celebrities Are Posting About Ivanka Trump to Urge Support for a Clean DREAM Act
