Michelle Obama Mum on Marriage

If Michelle Obama supports gay marriage, she's not saying so publicly.

The first lady's communications director, Kristina Schake, told Politico today that "Mrs. Obama has never made any public statements about same-sex marriage."

The awkward reminder of her silence on the issue became necessary because former New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey implied during an interview on CNN Monday that Michelle Obama might secretly be pressing President Obama to evolve on the issue.

"If he could only listen to Michelle more often," McGreevey mused during an interview with Eliot Spitzer. McGreevey, who came out in 2004 when he resigned from office, spoke at length in the interview about how politicians tend to lag behind the public in supporting civil rights causes, including marriage equality.

But the first lady has never "had any conversations with former governor McGreevey about the issue," according to Schake. In other words, he shouldn't have any inside information that would add credibility to his statement.

It wouldn't have been the first time that a presidential couple has split on the issue. Laura Bush famously offered a different opinion than her husband, George W. Bush, after they left the White House. During an interview with Larry King, she said marriage equality "will come" and that "when couples are committed to each other and love each other that they ought to have the same sort of rights that everyone has."