Yahoo Finance Amanda Gorman Overheard The Obamas Having A Feisty Inauguration Chat
One week after captivating the nation with her words, Amanda Gorman is still riding high.
Appearing on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” Tuesday, the 22-year-old opened up about becoming the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history at President Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 swearing-in.
Gorman, who hails from Los Angeles, attended the inauguration ceremony with her mother, Joan Wicks. She says the two couldn’t help but be a little star-struck when they were seated within earshot of Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and former President Barack Obama.
In her Tuesday chat with DeGeneres, Gorman said she overheard former first lady Michelle Obama continually reminding her husband to uphold social distancing measures.
“[Michelle] kept yelling at Barack, ‘Stop hugging people! Stop getting close to people,’” the poet recalled. “And then when I was done, she kind of pushed him out of the way and gave me just the biggest, warmest Michelle Obama hug.”
Gorman said she learned she’d been chosen as the inaugural poet on Dec. 30, but still wished she’d had more time to rehearse her poem, “The Hill We Climb,” before delivering it at the ceremony.
“I understood, in some capacity, that I was making history as the youngest inaugural poet,” she explained. “I didn’t know really what that history would look like or the impact that it would have.”
Elsewhere in the chat, Gorman doubled down on her previously stated goal of wanting to run for president one day, noting that loved ones were planning to hold her accountable to a dream she’s had since sixth grade.
“It’s something that my family takes very seriously,” she said. “They know when I say something, I mean business.”
Catch Amanda Gorman’s appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” below.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
