“Still ready to hold your father’s hand”

“You deserve the world and more,” Michelle wrote to her daughter on Instagram

Barack Obama and Michelle Obama celebrate the birthday of their eldest daughter, who turned 26 on July 4th.

Barack, 62, posted on his Instagram account on Thursday, July 4, an old photo of a young Malia Obama holding his hand as they walk down a street.

“Happy birthday, Malia. One of the greatest joys of my life is watching you grow into the extraordinary woman you are today – and the fact that you are still willing to hold your father’s hand in public!” the former president wrote under the photo, in which Malia, in a blue outfit, looks up at her father and looks at him with admiration.

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For her tribute on Instagram, 60-year-old Michelle went even deeper into the family archives and posted a photo of Malia beaming as a toddler, holding a stuffed bunny in her arms.

“Happy birthday, Malia! No matter how old you get, you will always be my little pea and I will always be proud of you,” Michelle wrote under the photo. “You deserve the world and more. ❤️.”

Malia is a filmmaker and television writer who lives in California with her younger sister Sasha Obama. At a fundraiser for Joe Biden in Los Angeles on June 15, Barack said that neither woman would ever go into politics, as Michelle had advised.

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“That’s a question I don’t have to answer because Michelle has instilled in them from such an early age that you have to be crazy to go into politics,” Barack replied to Jimmy Kimmel’s question about which of his daughters would make a better US president.

“That will never happen,” he added.

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