Former first lady Michelle Obama rules out election bid

MICHELLE OBAMA will not run for president, her office has said, quashing speculation she will be parachuted in to replace Joe Biden on the 2024 ballot.

Commentators from the Left and Right suggested the former first lady could swoop in to try and save the Democrats as the 81-year-old incumbent battles questions about his age and weak support in the polls. But yesterday, Mrs Obama’s office said she will not be making a bid for the White House.

“As former first lady Michelle Obama has expressed several times over the years, she will not be running for president,” said Crystal Carson, her office’s director of communications. She told NBC News: “Mrs Obama supports President Joe Biden and Vice-president Kamala Harris’ re-election campaign.”

Vivek Ramaswamy, the former Republican candidate, argued the Democrats would not let Mr Biden run and on 20 occasions suggested Mrs Obama could make a presidential bid.

“It’s going to be a new puppet Gavin Newsom, Michelle Obama, you name it,” Mr Ramaswamy said. Other Rightwing politicians who have promoted the idea include Marjorie Taylorgreene and Senator Ted Cruz.

Democrats worried about Mr Biden have also raised the idea. When special counsel Robert Hur released a report, calling Mr Biden an “elderly man with a poor memory”, Mrs Obama’s name began trending on X, formerly Twitter.

The 60-year-old former first lady was also the top choice among Democrats to replace Mr Biden on the 2024 ticket, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll.

In a Netflix special released last year, she said politics is “hard ... and the people who get into it … It’s got to be in your soul, because it is so important. It is not in my soul.”

‘Politics is hard … It’s got to be in your soul, because it is so important. It is not in my soul’