Dave Chappelle Tells Michelle Obama His Daughter Said White People Are ‘Not Good’ at Being President

Dave Chappelle recently sat down with Michelle Obama and talked about an observation his daughter made when it comes to the people who have been in office at the White House.

During the Wednesday, May 6, episode of the IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson podcast, the comedian, 52, explained that his 16-year-old daughter Sanaa — whom he shares with wife Elaine Chappelle — grew up during Barack Obama‘s presidency.

“Donald Trump is like the first white president she’s ever seen,” he said, referring to the 79-year-old president, whose first term began in 2017.

“I know, right?!” the Becoming author, 62, deadpanned as she stared at the audience.

Barack’s former vice president, Joe Biden, then took over as president from 2021 to 2025, but the former reality star was reelected for a second term after he won the presidency over Kamala Harris.

Explaining what his daughter has seen since Barack, who is Black, left office and the Apprentice alum — who is white and was impeached twice but acquitted by the Senate both times — took over, Chappelle said, “My baby’s like, ‘Oh no, they’re not good at it, Daddy!'”

As the crowd laughed, Michelle noted, “It’s a hard job. [You] try to tell the people. It’s a hard job!”

Praising Michelle for her and her husband’s work in office during their time as first family, Chappelle said, “Your family was so incredibly graceful.”

“You in particular, I believe, did more to humanize what a presidency is than maybe anybody ever,” Chappelle told Michelle. “You’re the first person that I feel like I could know that’s been in that space and survived it — and came out as gracefully as you went in.”

Michelle then asked Chappelle his thoughts on where we stand as a society.

The stand-up explained that he was recently in Los Angeles performing at a nightclub on Ventura Boulevard that he had never been to — and was there trying out some new material.

“I’ll try out mostly new jokes just to see where I’m at and where people are,” he said, adding that people are coming to see comedy “almost like [they are going to] church.”

“They’re not coming to hear me say anything important, but they’re coming to lay down a burden, so to speak,” he explained. “Remember, this is in North Hollywood, so everyone’s doing pretty good out there. These times are uncertain.”

“Some people come to counteract a numbness, they just wanna laugh so they can feel something,” he said. “It’s never really been quite like this before, where everyone feels like we’re on the precipice of some amazing change, and every day the new cycle is more appalling than the last day, and this doesn’t seem like it’s ever gonna end.”