For some reason, I thought Malia Obama had already graduated from Harvard, but she has not, correct? She entered Harvard for the Fall semester of 2017. So, the 2020-21 school year would have been her final year, if she was following the typical four-year path, but considering the pandemic, both Obama daughters have been back at home with their parents in DC for much of 2020. At some point in Malia’s first year at Harvard, she met a British student named Rory Farquharson, who is apparently quite posh. They fell in love. And during the pandemic, Rory came to live with the Obamas as well. Barack Obama sounds like he was okay with it?
Former President Barack Obama revealed that daughter Malia’s British boyfriend quarantined with the family in the early days of the pandemic — and their grocery bill shot up 30 percent. In a Wednesday interview on “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” Obama, 59, called his 22-year-old daughter’s beau Rory Farquharson a “wonderful young man.”
“There was this whole visa thing, he had a job set up, and so we took him in,” Obama said. “And I didn’t want to like him, but he’s a good kid.”
Farquharson, the well-to-do son of a London banker, ended up staying with the family “for a while” — and apparently had a large appetite.
“The only thing you discover… [is] young men eat,” said Obama, a dad to two daughters. “It’s weird to watch them consume food. And my grocery bill went up about 30 percent,” he added with a laugh.
The 44th president spoke about the family’s extra guest after he was asked about his most fun moment as a dad during quarantine.
“Maybe teaching Malia and Sasha, and Malia’s boyfriend who was with us for a while, spades and then having some spades games,” he responded. “And teaching them how to properly trash talk and slam the cards down.”
So it doesn’t sound like Rory was there for the entire pandemic – maybe like three or four months, I would assume. And Barry seems like he was fine with it? While I will never doubt that Barry is the “cool dad,” I would have expected him to put up more of a fight about his first-born bringing a boy home to live with them during the pandemic. It makes me wonder if Michelle was “the bad guy” between the parents. “No, Rory cannot stay in your room” and “No, Rory cannot smoke in the house” and “No, Rory needs to do his own laundry.” Hm. I will need to hear Michelle’s side of things. And yes, guys that age eat everything.
EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS – Before sunset: Malia Obama shares a kiss with Rory Farquharson as she strolls streets of Paris https://t.co/rSUdZb0jgj pic.twitter.com/CNcU3xqoU6
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) July 16, 2018
Malia Obama and her rumored boyfriend Rory Farquharson have mastered New York City street style https://t.co/yehiTcp0ub
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) January 23, 2018
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
Man, I’d love to play spades with the Obamas. And bid whist. And pinochle.
So Barry also had to deal with “the boyfriend”?! lol I don’t know, everything about this story is cute. I can’t wait for Michelle’s take on it.
I bet Harvard went virtual so she may be on track to graduate this spring regardless of the pandemic? But that’s just an assumption.
It sounds like the boyfriend stayed with them because he couldn’t go home (if he had a job here and maybe didn’t want to deal with quarantining) – so probably stayed with them for March through maybe June and then went back to the UK?
That was my guess too – it may have messed up his visa or something, or he just flat out couldn’t get there.
Sounds like they’ve been together for a while and I’m sure he knew the family well.
I would imagine playing cards with them all is really fun! And I can totally picture POTUS complaining about the groceries, and Michelle being the one who lays down the law in the house.
Too cute!!!!
They’re adorable.
Awww. Young love… I must have that bag Malia is carrying. I must.
Love those bags! – it’s Mansur Gavriel. You can get them discounted on therealreal. I have a couple and the leather ages really well
Only bags I have bought in the last decade. They also have great totes and the one Malia has comes in a couple sizes and are great for traveling (when we used to do that). They’re really well made and will last forever!
It’s funny to think of Obama as that dad who is monitoring the grocery bill. I bet he goes around the house turning lights off after people and turning the thermostat down, too.
It sounds like it was an emergency and he didn’t have someplace to go. It was really chaotic in the beginning with flights canceled and borders closed. It doesn’t sound like they were really living together.
I don’t see why it would necessarily be a problem. We have no idea how serious Malia’s relationship is. They’ve been together 2+ years. So, they might be quite serious. We don’t really know their lives and that’s as it should be. You can be quite serious at that age without it seeming like it because there’s no reason to rush. I think Obama is mostly joking and doing the “relatable dad” thing. If I was in that situation at 22, my parents would have let my boyfriend stay. They would only have objected to us sharing a room if it was close to theirs and I think My boyfriend and I would have agreed lol.
Agreed. Good (and modern) for them.
Boy gives me serious James Spader from Pretty in Pink vibes. But can’t imagine Malia suffers douchebags, so he’s probably a decent lad.
We were introduced to my sister’s boyfriend during the pandemic. They were very safe about the introduction and he’s been to the family house a number of times, always taking a COVID test (the PCR kind) before he comes over. (In the very beginning, he wasn’t allowed in the house at all but now that we’ve gotten to know him we know he is also very safe). I was laughing at Obama’s comment about the grocery bill because this guy also eats a lot. My sister’s BF is in his late 20s (29 I believe) but he will eat everything on his place and get seconds every single time. My sister keeps explaining if you keep offering him food, he will keep taking it, but my parents are always afraid they never make enough food when he comes to visit.
I’m 30 and the youngest of nine children and my mom gets extremely upset and judgements if we’re leaving in together with significant others that were not married to
My daughter and her boyfriend have lived in our home, thank goodness for a finished basement, for going on three years. And thank goodness they have each other, little to no expenses, and can concentrate on school and staying safe and happy.
We’ve known him since he was a baby, our families have known each other over 20 years.
Barack is a cool dad. I’m a cool mom, too. ☺️
Harvard went virtual. My daughter lived on the same floor as Rory, and he’s a nice guy. She saw Malia around too — and, she, too, is nice (not surprised, given Michelle and Barack).
My brother’s name is Rory, named after my dad’s best friend growing up in Belfast. Glad to hear he’s a good guy.
Nah. That grown ass man would not be in my house running up my grocery bill. He’s the son of a banker? Parents could have sent him money.
Agreed! He can’t get an apartment?! This sounds like one of those “extended adolescence” stories where the 22-year-olds are treated as if they are 16 and enabled to be clingy and weak.
When I was a 18…my boyfriend…whom I ADORED…had to stay with us for a while because of an unstable family home…we had a big house so my Mama was like….”I ain’t gonna have the boy on the street…” That’s one of the coolest things she eva did for me….so this makes me like the Obama’s even more! I’m from the same neighborhood that Michelle Obama is from…so maybe it’s a “Soufside Thang!”😂
Someone please ask Michelle! She probably was cool with it as Malia as been dating this guy for quite a long time. Also Barack lived with her on the second floor of her parents duplex well before there was any thought about marriage. She wrote about it in her book.
At 22 I sure hope Malia didn’t have ‘keep the door open’ parents, that’s super weird lol. If they were underage maybe but not 22.
My daughter was that age when her boyfriend of several years moved in for a time. He was remodeling an old house and had given up his lease but things took longer than expected and his place wasn’t ready to move in yet. He didn’t really hang out as he was working a lot as well as remodeling but it was nice to get to know him a bit better.
What’s weird are parents weirded out by their adult kids being in relationships and *gasp!* maybe having sex. It’s perfectly normal. She’s 22, it’s a pandemic and it’s safer for all if he can stay with them, so go for them for not making a big deal about it
Yeah, I think he is savvy enough to know that they were doing it anyway. I mean, she had been at college with him. No point in burying your head in the sand. But they need to be discreet about it. That’s my policy.