Michelle Obama recently revealed that she casually saved a friend who was choking on food while they were out at dinner.The former first lady made the revelation during a conversation with her brother, Craig Robinson, and comedian Kevin Hart on her and Craig's podcast, "IMO," in an episode released on Wednesday.The trio were talking about health scares when Obama brought up the incident."I gave one of my girlfriends the Heimlich maneuver at dinner," she said, to the amazement of Robinson.BOY, 8, SAVES CHOKING FRIEND WITH HEIMLICH MANEUVER: SEE THE VIDEOFormer first lady Michelle Obama and her brother Craig Robinson host a podcast in March.(Getty Images)Obama explained that she was eating dinner with her friend, her daughter Malia Obama, and two of Malia's friends."We're the same age and you know, you start having… swallowing problems," Obama said.
"Things just stop.But she had chewed her food — she had told me before that she had this esophageal issue where things will get stuck, so I knew that about her."At one point during the dinner, the woman stood up and coughed, Obama said.NYPD OFFICERS SAVE CHOKING 2-YEAR-OLD BOY, BODYCAM VIDEO SHOWS"I think she coughed up something, and it got stuck in her throat," she recalled.
"She was straining, and I said, 'Are you OK?'" to which the woman shook her head.Michelle Obama speaks during Higher Ground's "IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson" podcast at the Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival at the Martha's Vineyard Performing Arts Center in Massachusetts on Aug.9, 2025.
On an episode that aired Wednesday, the former first lady said she once saved the life of a friend by performing the Heimlich maneuver.(Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)Obama then positioned herself behind her friend and began performing the Heimlich maneuver."I had never done the Heimlich before, and it dislodged it.
It just popped up right away," she said.MICHELLE OBAMA URGES PARENTS NOT TO TRY TO BE FRIENDS WITH THEIR CHILDRENOnce ev...