'Embarrassing': Michelle Obama Ridiculed Over 'Abysmal' Podcast Debut Garnering Only 62K Views in 24 Hours

Former First Lady Michelle Obama was viciously mocked on social media after the first few episodes of her new podcast "IMO (In My Opinion)" debuted to lackluster numbers compared to other political shows on YouTube.

Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, launched their video podcast on Monday, March 10, and uploaded their first two episodes on Wednesday to kickstart their new media venture.

However, the two episodes garnered 47,000 and 15,000 views within their first 24 hours on the platform. In comparison, the first episode of California Governor Gavin Newsom's new podcast drew in over 743,000 views on YouTube and Joe Rogan's show pulls anywhere from 500,000 to 56 million viewers and listeners an episode.

Several critics took to social media to poke fun at the former first lady for her "abysmal" viewership numbers.

One user on X, formerly known as Twitter, shared a screenshot showing the view count on Obama's YouTube page and wrote: "Michelle Obama’s first couple podcast episodes absolutely flopped, not even getting a combined 20,000 views in the 15 hours after posting. The comments filled with people saying 'nobody asked for this.' What an utter failure. Who thought this was a good idea?"

Another X user commented: "I find the majority of successful podcasts come about naturally and over time. The left seems to think success can be forced. I have news for ‘em. You can’t just take someone who was popular at one time, and achieve your goals. It just doesn’t work that way."

A third person pointed out: "This is extremely embarrassing."

According to Backlino, 47 percent of the U.S. population from age 12 and above listen to a podcast at least once a month, with YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts being the most popular places to listen.

More than 70 million people listened to podcasts in 2023, with the number projected to be over 110 million by 2029, as per Statista.

Speaking about her podcast on Instagram, Obama wrote: "There's a lot going on in the world right now. We're living through some really complicated and confusing times and on top of that, folks are trying to juggle family life, work dynamics, relationships, aging parents, and more."

"In our first episode, we share stories about growing up on Euclid Avenue in Chicago and the journey that led us to who we are today," she shared. "From life on the South Side to going to college together to the White House and, more recently, our experience after losing our mom. It's been a lot, but we always know that we'll have each other's backs. For over six decades, we've been each other's sounding board — and now, we can't wait to be yours, too."