Then-first lady Michelle Obama and daughter Malia step off Air Force One Aug. 16, 2009, upon arrival at Grand Canyon National Park Airport in Grand Canyon, Arizona. (Mandel Ngan/Getty Images)
Michelle Obama said she debated whether to wear hiking shorts or a dress before landing on wearing Bermuda shorts.
"I can't wear hiking shorts there, and I can't wear a dress to hike," she said. "That would be crazy. People would call me 'disconnected' and 'un-American.' I'm at the Grand Canyon in a tea-length dress with flats? I was like, 'That's not how people go to the Grand Canyon.'"
"I eventually opted for the thing that felt mostly me," Michelle Obama continued. "And it was the Bermuda shorts. Because if we're going on a hike, this is how a normal person would go on a hike."
The former first lady did face backlash for the attire, as pundits at the time criticized that a first lady wearing shorts while departing Air Force One was too casual, with outlets running headlines such as, "Who Wears Short Shorts? Michelle Obama," "First lady’s shorts draw some long, hard looks," and "Michelle Obama: The Shorts Heard Round the World."
First lady Melania Trump departs Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on June 21, 2018, wearing a jacket emblazoned with the words "I really don't care, do you?" following her surprise visit with child migrants on the U.S.-Mexico border. (Mandel Ngan/Getty Images)
Melania Trump later told the media she wore the jacket as a message to the liberal media and other critics: "I want to show them that I don’t care," she told ABC News in 2018.
President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama and their daughters tour Hopi Point at Grand Canyon National Park Aug. 16, 2009, in Arizona. (Mandel Ngan/Getty Images)
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Fox News Digital reached out to Michelle Obama's office Tuesday for additional comment on the matter but did not immediately receive a reply.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/michelle-obama-reveals-infuriating-moment-air-force-one-still-haunts-her