Michelle Obama urged to run for President after her husband failed to back Kamala Harris

Obama, one of the party’s most influential figures, has stayed silent on Harris. In a statement released hours after the 81-year-old announced he was withdrawing, the 44th President said there needed to be a “thorough process” to select an “outstanding nominee”.

For many, the former First Lady could be that nominee.

A recent Ipsos poll found that she is the only hypothetical candidate to stop Trump from re-entering the White House, with 50 per cent of voters saying they would vote for her if she was against Trump. The former President received 39 per cent of the vote in this supposed head-to-head.

She also came top of the leaderboard when it came to favourability amongst registered voters.

Republican Senator Kevin Cramer recently told New York Magazine that “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”.

Vivek Ramaswamy, who declared his candidacy for the GOP nomination before pulling out in January, said Americans should not “rule out” Obama becoming the nominee.

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Ramaswamy, who had previously predicted Biden wouldn’t secure the Democratic nomination, said: “Last year, I predicted Joe Biden wouldn’t be the nominee.

“Now, I’m predicting Kamala Harris won’t be either. I wouldn’t rule out Michelle Obama becoming the nominee.”

Steven Bartlett, a Dragons’ Den entrepreneur and podcast host, has called on the former First Lady to take the role. He said: “At this point only Michelle can beat Trump. That is fact.”

Despite calls for Obama to step forward, she has steadfastly maintained that she would not run for the role. She was first asked if she ever planned on running for office as early as 2012, when her husband was still president.

She told an event at the White House: “Absolutely not. I think that once his terms are over, we'll go on to do other important things, because there are so many ways you can help this country and the world, even if you're not president of the United States.”

As recently as this year, her office told NBC News that she was not planning on running for office in 2024.

“Politics is hard,” she said in a Netflix special with Oprah Winfrey. “And the people who get into it... you've got to want it. It's got to be in your soul, because it is so important. It is not in my soul.”

After Biden withdrew from the race, he endorsed Harris as his choice to be the Democratic nominee and urged his party members to unite behind her.

“I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,” he said. “Democrats – it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”

Responding to Biden’s endorsement, Harris said: “I am honoured to have the president’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination.”