OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Ever since former President Obama left the White House rumors have swirled around his popular wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, bringing the family back to the presidency.
The former first lady has spoken about her political future, or lack thereof, many times in the past, but she was asked again this week if she intended to take a swing at becoming president and her office issued a no doubt response.
“As former First Lady Michelle Obama has expressed several times over the years, she will not be running for president,” the former first lady’s director of communications, Crystal Carson, said to NBC News. “Mrs. Obama supports President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ re-election campaign.
The former first lady and her husband will be all in on assisting the 81-year-old President Joe Biden in his campaign, but in a limited role, NBC reported.
“President and Michelle Obama were enormously helpful in the fight to beat Donald Trump and elect President Biden and Vice President Harris the first time and we are grateful to have their voice and their support in the fight for the fate of our democracy this November,” Kevin Munoz, Biden campaign spokesperson, said.
But in crafting the message for NBC News the former first lady’s office was careful not to rule out holding any political office in the former first lady’s future.
“It doesn’t close the door,” a person who was familiar with the crafting of the message said, “and that’s what prompted Michelle’s office to call.”
In January, during an appearance on Jay Shetty’s “On Purpose” podcast, the host asked her what keeps her up at night.
“What keeps me up are the things that I know: the war in the region, in too many regions. What is AI going to do for us? The environment, you know, are we moving at all fast enough?” she began.
“What are we doing about education? Are people going to vote? And why aren’t people voting? Are we too stuck to our phones? I mean, these are the things that keep me up because you don’t have control over them, and you wonder, where are people, where are we in this, where are our hearts? What’s going to happen in this next election?” she continued.
“I am terrified about what could possibly happen. Because our leaders matter. Who we select, who speaks for us, who holds that bully pulpit. It affects us in ways that, sometimes, I think people take it for granted,” she added. “You know, 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. And sometimes, I worry that we do. Those are the things that keep me up.”
Her comments led longtime Republican operative Roger Stone, a vehement ally of former President Donald Trump, to predict anew that she was “positioning” herself to be the nominee.
The exchange with Shetty, a British-Indian author and co-founder of Same Tea, came as a top financial analyst predicted in a note to clients this week that President Joe Biden will drop out of the race sometime this year.
Michael Cembalest, who leads JPMorgan Chase’s market and investment strategy unit in the financial giant’s asset management division, wrote that Biden, 81, will leave the race “sometime between Super Tuesday and the November election, citing health concerns.”
Super Tuesday, which is scheduled for March 5, involves primaries in more than a dozen states, including California, Texas, Massachusetts, Vermont and North Carolina. In the modern era, whoever wins the bulk of Super Tuesday primaries is considered the frontrunner and eventual party nominee.
Cembalest justified his prediction by citing Biden’s taking approval rating, especially for a president who can claim “around 10% job creation since his inauguration,” though much if not most of that was caused by Americans returning to the workforce after lengthy COVID shutdowns, which Cembalest noted in a forecast letter to investors and clients.
He didn’t predict who would take Biden’s spot but predicted it would be “a replacement candidate named by the Democratic National Committee.”
