Did Barack Obama need ‘30-something stitches’ for busted lip in 2010? Fact-checking Michelle's viral claim
Michelle Obama has claimed that Barack Obama needed “30-something stitches” following an accident while playing ball with White House staffers in 2010.
Michelle Obama has claimed that her husband Barack Obama needed “30-something stitches” in his lip after he sustained an injury while playing ball with White House staffers during his first term. However, in reality, he actually did not need so many stitches, the White House previously said.
Michelle made the claim while talking to her brother Craig Robinson during their latest episode of their IMO podcast. During the discussion, the former first lady revisited the 2010 anecdote that stemmed from a pick-up basketball game at Fort McNair in Washington, DC.
Michelle described the ordeal as an “I told you so” moment to her husband. “I’m always like, ‘Be careful playing basketball. You shouldn’t be playing now. You have a real important job’,” Michelle said of her warnings at the time, which were apparently unheeded. “And literally, he’s coming in [the White House] with a gauze thing on his lip.”
“He needed like 30-something stitches,” she added. “He had some major speech on Monday, and I was like, ‘This is what I’m saying. You know, you’re playing like you’re 10 and now your lip is split’,” she added.
Did Barack Obama need 30 stitches?
At the time of the incident, the White House said Barack received 12 stitches to close up his cut lip. However, CBS reported at the time that even 12 stitches were considered high for the kind of injury the then president sustained, and that White House doctors actually used extra-small sutures to avoid the possibility of scarring.
Video from just after the 2010 accident showed the Obama family welcoming the White House Christmas tree without Barack. The president watched alone with ice on his lips, through a second-story window.
The incident was jokingly called ‘Elbowgate’ at the time as Barack sustained the wound from a blow delivered by Rey Decerega, an official with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. Michelle said that the incident prompted her to ban her husband from playing basketball while he was president. The former commander in chief famously enjoyed shooting hoops.
