Washington (AFP) - Both sides of the US political divide are defending Malia Obama's right to privacy after a video went viral showing the eldest daughter of former president Barack Obama apparently smoking.

Chelsea Clinton and Ivanka Trump were among the numerous defenders of Malia, 19, on Twitter after the video on Friday seemed to show her blowing smoke rings in a bathroom.

"Malia Obama's private life, as a young woman, a college student, a private citizen, should not be your clickbait. Be better," Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of Democratic former president Bill Clinton and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, wrote on Twitter.

Malia Obama is a student at Harvard University.

Ivanka Trump, the daughter of and an adviser to President Donald Trump, who defeated Hillary Clinton in last year's election, similarly defended Malia's right to privacy.

"She is a young adult and private citizen, and should be OFF limits," Ivanka Trump wrote on Twitter.