- Michelle Obama isn’t running for president in 2024.
- The former first lady’s office says she’s backing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ reelection campaign.
- As of Super Tuesday, Biden remains the Democratic frontrunner.
Michelle Obama has set the record straight on whether she plans to launch a White House bid.
On Tuesday, the former first lady’s office told NBC that “she will not be running for president.”
“Mrs. Obama supports President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ reelection campaign,” said Obama’s communications director, Crystal Carson.
Concerns over Biden’s age have fuelled speculation that the president could be replaced as the Democratic presidential candidate.
In January, a JPMorgan Asset Management strategist, Michael Cembalest, predicted that Biden may drop out and be replaced by a “candidate named by the Democratic National Committee.”
Biden, Cembalest wrote, could withdraw from the race “sometime between Super Tuesday and the November election, citing health reasons.”
Biden, for his part, has brushed aside such speculation. The president told MSNBC in May that he thinks his age is an asset for his candidacy because he’s “more experienced than anybody that’s ever run for the office.”
But that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from churning. Besides Obama, there have been rumblings of a possible run by California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
This isn’t the first time Obama has had to quash speculation about her presidential ambitions. In 2019, Obama told The National there was “zero chance” of her running.
“There are so many ways to improve this country and build a better world, and I keep doing plenty of them, from working with young people to helping families lead healthier lives,” Obama told the magazine. “But sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office will never be one of them. It’s just not for me.”
This means that we are all but certain to see a rematch between Biden and former President Donald Trump this November.
Besides losing the GOP primaries in Washington and Vermont to former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, Trump has won every primary race thus far.
“What’s going to happen in this next election? I’m terrified about what could possibly happen because our leaders matter,” Obama said of the 2024 election in a podcast interview with Jay Shetty in January.
“Who we select, who speaks for us, who holds that bully pulpit, it affects us in ways sometimes I think people take for granted,” she continued.
