Michelle Obama is using her platform to say the quiet part out loud. 

In a recent episode of “IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson,” the former first lady sat down with comedian Hasan Minhaj and described the current state of the country as a “janky version” of America.

“You know, there are versions of the country that happen, right? And the new version doesn’t make the old one bad. It’s necessary for growth, and I think we’re in just a janky version, right?” she said.

The conversation leaned into both politics and personality. Minhaj joined Obama and Robinson to talk about growing up Indian American Muslim, the immigrant experience, and fatherhood, while also asking for parenting advice. The exchange included Obama’s blunt-but-hopeful take that America is in a “janky” period, which Minhaj quickly echoed in his own style before asking permission to curse. 

And Obama gave him the ok. Minhaj said, “Yeah, **** is jank right now. Super jank.”

“Right now, I’m kind of digging the way folks are beginning to respond, right?” she continued. “I mean, Minnesota, powerful stuff. I mean, it was a powerful reminder of what a community of people can do and are willing to do to protect one another. You know, when you’re not so janky, you don’t have to prove that, right?”

The Trump administration’s deployment of federal immigration agents to Minnesota drew intense backlash after the fatal January shootings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, which intensified public outrage over the operation. 

Former President Barack Obama said at the time that Pretti’s killing should be a wake-up call for Americans of every political stripe, arguing that the country’s core values are increasingly under threat. Michelle added, “We haven’t been this janky for a while, and I think our muscle of understanding our truth just got a little lax.”

Michelle blunt honesty is refreshing, if not slightly hilarious, but ultimately…sad.