Obama tears up during tribute to Michelle

by Jordan Fabian - 01/10/17 9:58 PM ET

POTUS thanks Michelle Obama: “Girl of the South Side for the past 25 years… you have made the country proud” pic.twitter.com/zDaFhIDF5O

— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 11, 2017

President Obama teared up during an emotional acknowledgment of first lady Michelle Obama during his farewell address on Tuesday night.

“Michelle,” Obama said, wiping away tears while speaking in the couple’s hometown of Chicago, “for the past twenty-five years, you have not only been my wife and mother of my children; you have been my best friend.”

Sitting in the first row of the crowd, the first lady and their elder daughter, Malia, shed tears as the president spoke.

“You took on a role you didn’t ask for and you made it your own with grace and with grit and with style and good humor,” Obama said. “You made the White House a place that belongs to everybody.”

Obama praised his daughters for becoming “amazing” young women even as they “wore the burden of years in the spotlight so easily.”

“Of all that I’ve done in my life, I’m most proud to be your dad,” he said.

Obama also gushed over Vice President Biden, who sat with his wife, Jill, alongside the president’s family.

“You were the first choice I made as a nominee, and the best,” Obama told Biden. “Not just because you have been a great vice president, but because in the bargain, I gained a brother.

“We love you and Jill like family, and your friendship has been one of the great joys of our life,” he continued.

Obama got a hug from Malia on stage after the speech, and then got another from Biden.

Tags Michelle Obama