Michelle Obama may be considering running for president in the 2024 election, sources have claimed.
The former First Lady’s team has already “polled donors” via a survey on their thoughts of her as a candidate ahead of a possible shot at the White House, reports have suggested.
Obama’s apparent shock move, allegedly orchestrated by her husband Barack, could see her snatch the Democratic nomination from Joe Biden at the Democratic National Convention in August – crucially, in her hometown of Chicago.
Rumblings of a second Obama presidency are not new – in summer 2022, Obama met with potential donors in New York City, saying: “I am running, and I am asking for your support.”
The Obamas have “not denied” rumours of a return to the Oval Office
PA
The growing likelihood of a Trump victory combined with a steady decline in President Biden’s approval ratings may have pressured Obama to step up her attempts at a run.
The Obamas have “not denied” rumours of a return to the Oval Office, said Cindy Adams in the New York Post.
Adams said: “I broke the story Mrs Obama might run for the highest office in the land. With outlets all repeating my story, the Obamas have not denied it.
“While high-level DC people deny Michelle’s a maybe candidate, several firsthand sources whom she met in 2022 say I am right.
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The shock presidential bid is allegedly being orchestrated by former President Barack Obama
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“Obama, who came into the White House poor and left rich, has not refuted it.”
Adams speculated that Obama could be put forward as a third-party option by centrist organisation No Labels, and said “we should hear murmurs” about any possible candidate by “mid-February”.
She stressed the nation’s need for a centrist – “a strong, tough leader of the majority mass of independent voters”.
Speaking last month, Obama said she the outcome of this year’s election was keeping her up at night.
She said: “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 I think sometimes people take for granted.”
Rumours of an Obama candidacy saw betting odds slashed from +900 to +400 in a single day at the end of January – though they still only suggest she has an outside chance against President Biden.
A sitting elected president has only failed to win their own party’s nomination once – Franklin Pierce, in 1852.
Four other presidents – all pre-20th Century – have been denied nomination, all of whom only assumed office through their predecessors’ deaths.