David Axelrod, a former advisor to Barack Obama, addressed rumors Michelle Obama will replace Joe Biden as the Democrat nominee in the 2024 presidential election.
Axelrod said Obama has no interest in politics or intentions of getting into the race.
“She never was interested in a political life,” Axelrod told CNN’s Michael Smerconish.
“Even when Barack Obama was a young politician, she really didn’t participate much in his campaigns. I was with him in a Senate campaign in 2004, I think she showed up twice in the whole campaign on election nights. So, you know, she is not someone who likes politics. She doesn’t like the tone and tenor of politics,” Axelrod continued.
“And I would be floored if she would be consent to that. They feel that they gave 10 years of their life to this. And I’m sure she feels as Barbara Bush did when she said there has to be someone other than the Bush’s and the Clintons who could be President of the United States. My guess is that’s her attitude. I always say, Michael, that I have as much chance of dancing in the Bolshoi Ballet next year than that she would be President of the United States. And so, if you see me running around at the end of the year in a leotard you’ll know what I mean,” he added.
Axelrod criticized New York Post reporter Cindy Adams for her op-ed that sparked the rumors.
WATCH:
David Axelrod says Michelle Obama will not replace Biden on Democrat ticket. And Smerconish throws shade at NY Post reporter Cindy Adams, who has been stoking the Michelle rumors.pic.twitter.com/29duelhbHb
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) February 11, 2024
Numerous conservatives have said Joe Biden will not be the Democrat nominee, suggesting Michelle Obama may be his replacement.
“Joe Biden will not be the nominee. I said that last year, people dismissed it as some type of conspiracy theory. Today I think it became that much more obvious,” former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said.
Vivek Ramaswamy: “Joe Biden Will Not Be The Nominee”, Predicts Possible Replacement
“Play this out, Biden’s own DOJ and Special Counsel is effectively releasing a report that undermines the case for him to actually be a candidate for the U.S. presidency right as Biden’s poll numbers are cratering,” he continued.
“I do think what they’re planning for is to sideline Biden as the nominee [and] trot in a different puppet instead,” he added.
“Biden will not be the Democratic nominee. Get ready for Michelle Obama,” Ramaswamy wrote on X.
WATCH:
Biden will not be the Democratic nominee. Get ready for Michelle Obama.
pic.twitter.com/1fG29EnOmo— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) February 9, 2024
Republican strategist Karl Rove also shot down rumors Michelle Obama would replace Joe Biden.
Top GOP strategist Karl Rove says Michelle Obama won’t try to replace Biden: ‘She hates politics’ https://t.co/0J0p56p5yZ pic.twitter.com/csJ2Mr6lo9
— New York Post (@nypost) February 8, 2024
From the New York Post:
A top Republican strategist slapped down fear that former first lady Michelle Obama could usurp the Democratic presidential nod from President Biden at the last minute.
“No — look, she hates politics. Read her autobiography,” Rove countered to Fox Business Network’s “Varney & Co.”
“She didn’t want her husband to run for the state Senate. She didn’t want him to run for the presidency. She’s not a political animal.”
Speculation has swirled, even among some prominent Republicans, that Democrats are looking for someone to replace Biden, 81, amid consternation about his age — as well as his steady stream of verbal flubs and flagrant mishaps.
Back in the 2020 presidential election cycle, some conservative detractors similarly floated a theory that Michelle Obama could swoop in at the Democratic National Convention and join the presidential ticket.
Rove, who served as President George W. Bush’s deputy chief of staff, argued that a hypothetical Michelle Obama candidacy would get overshadowed by concerns about her being a proxy for her husband.
“People would say that’s Barack trying to get a third term as president, and they wouldn’t go for it,” Rove contended.
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