Opinion
Over the past few months, rumors have been swirling that Democrats are planning to run the former First Lady Michelle Obama in Joe Biden’s place in this year’s presidential election due to her bafflingly high popularity among the American people. Now, Obama has finally broken her silence to address these rumors and reveal if she’s considering running for president.
Obama Breaks Her Silence
Daily Mail reported that Obama, 60, has spoken out to deny that she is planning to run for president.
“As former First Lady Michelle Obama has expressed several times over the years, she will not be running for president,” Crystal Carson, director of communications for Obama’s office, told NBC News.
“Mrs. Obama supports President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ re-election campaign,” she added.
Democrats Want Obama To Run
This came after a recent Rasmussen Reports survey showed that 48% of the Democratic voters polled said that they approve of the party “finding another candidate to replace Joe Biden before the election in November,” while 38% disapproved. However, 33% of Democrats predicted that such a ballot shakeup is unlikely to happen.
As for who would replace Biden, Obama came out on top with 20% support, earning the number one spot over a list of other potential candidates that included Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “None of the above” and “not sure” were also options listed in the poll.
Harris came in second to Obama with 15% saying they’d choose her, and Clinton came in third with 12% of support. Newsom, who some have claimed is running a “shadow campaign” for the presidency in case Biden decides to drop out, came in fourth with 11% of Democrats polled picking him, while Whitmer came in fifth with just 9% support.
Related: Michelle Obama Leading Choice To Replace Biden As Nearly Half Of Dems Want To Boot Him Off Ticket
Obama ‘Terrified’ Of Presidential Election
Back in January, Obama revealed her fears about this year’s presidential election.
“What’s going to happen in this next election? I’m terrified about what could possibly happen, because our leaders matter,” Obama said, according to CNN. “Who we select, who speaks for us, who holds that bully pulpit, it affects us in ways sometimes I think people take for granted.”
“The fact that people think that government — ‘eh, does it really even do anything?’ — and I’m like ‘Oh my God, does government do everything for us, and we cannot take this democracy for granted,’” she continued. “And I worry sometimes that we do. Those are the things that keep me up.”
Last year, Obama opened up about why she is not planning to run for president.
“Politics is hard,” she told Oprah Winfrey in a Netflix special. “And the people who get into it … you’ve got to want it. It’s got to be in your soul, because it is so important. It is not in my soul.”
Related: Michelle And Barack Obama Admit They Are ‘Terrified’ That Trump Will Win In 2024
Obama Furious With Jill Biden
In a separate 2022 interview, Obama said that she “detests” questions about whether or not she’ll run for president. Other reports, however, have alleged that Obama was upset when Jill Biden ruled her out as a running mate for her husband while on the campaign trail in 2020.
When asked if Obama was an option to be Joe Biden’s running mate, Jill replied, “You know, I’d love it if Michelle would agree to it. But I — you know, I think she’s had it with politics. I don’t know. She’s so good at everything she does. That would — that would be wonderful.”
Two sources said that Obama was livid by this answer, and that she wanted Jill to have a different one on hand that didn’t completely close the door if she was asked this question again.
It’s a mystery to many of us why Obama continues to be as popular as she is. Thank goodness she has no plans to run for president, and we can only hope that she doesn’t reconsider that at any point in the future.
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