Malia Obama Joins Pipeline Protest

She was seen at Sundance Film Festival event
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 28, 2017 8:42 AM CST
Malia Obama Joins Pipeline Protest
Malia Obama walks to a car on Main Street during the 2017 Sundance Film Festival on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, in Park City, Utah.   (Photo by Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP)

The first Obama to publicly take a political stance during the Trump administration wasn't Barack or Michelle but Malia, who joined a protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline during the Sundance Festival in Utah this week. Actress Shailene Woodley, a fellow protester, tells Democracy Now that is was "amazing" to see 18-year-old Malia at the protest. Malia is "coming into her own outside her family" and she "recognizes, regardless of her last name, that if she doesn’t participate in democracy, there will be no world for her future children," Woodley says.

After months of protests from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and supporters, the Obama administration halted construction of the controversial pipeline in September, but President Trump signed executive orders to advance construction of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines on Tuesday. Malia, who will begin an internship for movie producer Harvey Weinstein in February, left her family's Caribbean vacation to attend the film festival, the San Jose Mercury News reports. (The Bush twins offered some advice on post-White House life to Malia and younger sister Sasha.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X