Former
first lady Michelle Obama wrote that she was unable to put on a happy face and smile during President Donald Trump's inauguration in her new book, according to ABC News.
"Someone from Barack's administration might have said that the optics there were bad, that what the public saw didn't reflect the President's reality or ideals, but in this case, maybe it did," Obama said in audio of the book.
"Realizing it, I made my own optic adjustment. I stopped even trying to smile."
In its interview with Obama, ABC News further quoted from her book, where the former first lady described her reaction to Trump's defeat of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in stark terms.
"I will always wonder about what led so many, women in particular, to reject an exceptionally qualified female candidate and instead choose a misogynist as their president," Obama wrote.
The Washington Post previously noted that Obama wrote she would "never forgive" Trump for promoting the false "birther" conspiracy about President Barack Obama.
Trump pushed back in response to the quote, saying, "She got paid a lot of money to write a book, and they always expect a little controversy."
"I'll give you a little controversy back, I'll never forgive (President Barack Obama) for what he did to our US military," Trump said.
