A former Trump administration official this weekend floated the possibility of Michelle Obama succeeding President Joe Biden as the 2024 Democratic nominee, warning that the former first lady would be a formidable opponent to the GOP.
‘If [Democrats] were to run Michelle Obama, that would put us in a very difficult position,’ former Trump aide Monica Crowley said at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando on Saturday.
‘They’d reach for a candidate who is completely plausible, very popular, and immune to criticism.’
Crowley, who was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Public Affairs under Donald Trump, appeared at a panel discussion alongside former White House physician-turned-House Rep. Ronny Jackson, conservative activist Jack Posobiec and California lawyer Kurt Schlichter during the multi-day event.
After tossing the popular Democratic first lady’s hat in the ring, Crowley explained how Obama would have been positioning herself to mount a White House bid in the years after her husband Barack Obama left the White House in early 2017.
‘When you think about her positioning, she spoke as a [Democratic National Convention] keynote speaker in 2020,’ Crowley claimed.
‘She wrote her autobiography and did a 50-city tour, she has massive Netflix and Spotify deals, and she’s got a voting rights group alongside Stacey Abrams.’
Obama’s memoir ‘Becoming’ sold more than two million copies in various forms within 15 days of publication, quickly becoming a bestseller.
It’s a testament to the Harvard-educated lawyer’s popularity, particularly among Democrats.
She was voted as the topmost admired woman in YouGov’s global survey three years in a row, most recently winning the number one spot in December 2021.
And while Obama has publicly dismissed the idea of running for her husband’s old job, a recent Hill-HarrisX poll placed her high on the list of potential candidates in 2024 should Biden choose not to run.
The president, who’s so far said he’s running for re-election, would be 81 years old at the start of his second term.
The late November 2021 survey found Obama second in a list of likely Democrat candidates, just behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
But on Saturday, former Trump aide Crowley highlighted Harris’ gaffe-laden first year. She suggested Obama would be a good alternative so as not to alienate black women, among the Democratic Party’s most loyal voters, according to Business Insider.
Obama has long been admired by Democrats and even Independents, and would have immediate name recognition should she cast a 2024 bid.
Despite her insistence that she won’t run, Crowley warned her crowd at the Republican event to be ready for it and compared Obama’s profile-enhancing activism that put her back into the public eye after leaving the White House to the actions of Hillary Clinton — another rumored potential 2024 candidate.
Authored by Elizabeth Elkind via DailyMail
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