Michelle Obama has said she's not running for president in 2024, but that hasn't stopped people from speculating. Amid concerns about President Joe Biden's re-election campaign and calls for him to drop out of the presidential race, many have been thinking about who might replace him. For some time, Republicans have theorized that Democrats never actually planned on having Joe Biden as their candidate in 2024. In 2023, Sen. Ted Cruz shared his theory on his podcast: "So here’s the scenario that I think is perhaps the most likely and most dangerous," he said at the time.
"In August of 2024, the Democrat kingmakers jettison Joe Biden and parachute in Michelle Obama," Ted Cruz continued at the time. "I view this as a very serious danger."
Clearly, this theory that Biden might not remain in the race has existed for a while, but now, a growing number of Democrats are asking Biden to drop out of the race.
A recent poll looked at how people would vote if the election were between Donald Trump and various hypothetical Democratic candidates. The Reuters-Ipsos poll included Michelle Obama, Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, Andy Beshear, and J.B. Pritzker. Among these hypothetical candidates, Michelle Obama had the most support and appeared to be the most likely to defeat Donald Trump.
This is perhaps why some Republicans continue to fear her even though she has said that she is not running for president.
At the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, Donald Trump Jr. asked, "Who is really running the country?” and delegates responded with "Obama," per Intelligencer.
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Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said he wouldn't "be revealing any sort of polling secrets if I said Michelle Obama would probably be the one person that could step in and keep the party united and probably provide a little bit of a moving start because of her obvious notoriety," per Intelligencer.
In 2022, a former Trump aide, Monica Crowley, shared that Michelle Obama could put Republicans "in a very difficult position."
Crowley explained that Michelle Obama is "completely plausible, very popular, and immune to criticism."
But on multiple occasions, Michelle has assured people that she will not run for president. In 2018, The Guardian reported, she said she was not passionate enough for the job.
"I’ve never had the passion for politics," Michelle said at the time. "I just happened to be married to somebody who has the passion for politics."
