As her new podcast struggles to find listeners, Michelle Obama is resorting to some desperate measures to stay relevant.

The former First Lady was caught exaggerating medical injuries that her husband Barack Obama sustained while playing basketball during his first term.

Michelle Obama highlighted the anecdote as an example of an "I told you so" moment for her husband - who ended up with stitches after splitting his lip open.

Michelle Obama busted

In his wife's retelling of the incident, the former president required "30-something stitches" after getting elbowed.

“I’m always like, ‘Be careful playing basketball. You shouldn’t be playing now. You have a real important job’,” she said.

“And literally, he’s coming in [the White House] with a gauze thing on his lip,” she said.

“He needed like 30-something stitches,” she added. “He had some major speech on Monday, and I was like, ‘This is what I’m saying. You know, you’re playing like you’re 10 and now your lip is split’,” Michelle added.

But Michelle's memory magnified the severity of the injury. At the time, the White House said President Obama received 12 stitches.

"After being inadvertently hit with an opposing player's elbow in the lip while playing basketball with friends and family, the president received 12 stitches today administered by the White House medical unit. They were done in the doctor's office located on the ground floor of the White House," Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Star power fading

Over eight years since they left the White House, the Obamas' star power is fading in a new era of decentralized media and Trumpian cultural dominance.

Barack Obama's legacy is in question, as the longtime spiritual leader of the left is reduced to begging for attention by photo bombing tourists while the Democratic party struggles through an identity crisis sparked by President Trump's triumphant return.

Michelle, a best-selling memoirist once seen as a presidential contender, has struggled to grab listeners on her new podcast with brother Craig Robinson, IMO. 

Despite her significant fame, the show has fallen out of the top 100 in Spotify's rankings since it launched in March, and the YouTube version has yet to crack one million views.

It is telling that Michelle is mining such old news for engagement. While her husband's elbow injury may have inspired some droll amusement at the time, fifteen years have since gone by. The world, frankly, has moved on.