Michelle Obama has reportedly declined to campaign for Joe Biden over how his family treated her friend Kathleen Buhle after her divorce from the president’s son Hunter.
The two were married from 1993 to 2017 and the Bidens are said to have blamed the non-profit executive and writer for sharing details of Hunter’s addictions to the press.
Barack Obama has been seen on the campaign trail with Mr Biden, the Democratic nominee for the presidential election in November, and has organised fundraisers for his effort.
But his wife has not been seen campaigning for him, leading Axios to report that this is due to a longstanding feud over the treatment of Ms Buhle.
Ms Obama is known to go on long walks with Ms Buhle and has also said the two have previously worked out together or shared evening cocktails together.
The former first lady is said to have taken Ms Buhle’s side after she spoke of finding a crack pipe belonging to Hunter in 2015, and searched his car for drugs to hide from their children.
During the fallout, the Bidens were accused of being more concerned “about the details of Hunter’s behaviour being leaked than the actions themselves”.
Hunter was in court earlier this month over lying about his drug use on a form he filled in to purchase a gun.
He was found guilty on all three felony counts he faced relating to buying a handgun while being a user of crack cocaine.
Ms Obama reposted an announcement on social media that Joe Biden was running for president but has otherwise appeared to abstain from any support on social media.
On Thursday, Mr Biden went head to head against Donald Trump in their first televised debate - which ended with the incumbent facing further scrutiny about his age.
A snap poll afterwards revealed that the majority of viewers had thought that Mr Trump performed better in the CNN contest.
