After numerous tabloid reports noting how little time they've spent together in public recently, Barack and Michelle Obama put rumors to rest by treating themselves to a date night.
They visited Osteria Mozza, an upscale Italian restaurant in Washington, DC where the former president had been spotted numerous times recently dining alone.
Diners cheered and clapped as the couple arrived at the restaurant, with Obama waving to fellow diners as they left.
So, why did people care? The state of the Obama marriage has been the focus of speculation after Barack attended Donald Trump's inauguration and Jimmy Carter's funeral alone. Michelle's rep explained that she had a scheduling conflict and was still in Hawaii, where the Obamas have owned a house for years.
Michelle Obama addressed the speculation about their marriage on the Sophia Bush podcast, where she told the former "One Tree Hill" actress she had decided to prioritize her independence.
Obama brought up her marriage in a discussion with Bush over what her schedule looks like these days, sharing that now that her husband is no longer president and her kids are grown and out of the house, she feels more empowered to spend her time how she wants to.
She referred to a “real big example” of looking at her calendar, and doing “what was best for me, not what I had to do.”
Michelle Obama said people “couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself, that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing,” she went on. “This couldn’t be a grown woman just making a set of decisions for herself, right? But that is what society does to us.”
The public is obviously pulling for the former president and his wife to stay together, with hundreds of comments of support on the video of their outing. One Instagram user garnered more than a thousand hears on the remark "Remember when we had presidents we respected??