Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has suggested that former first lady Michelle Obama will replace President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket in this year's presidential election.
During an interview with Fox Business host Stuart Varney on Thursday, Cruz asserted that Democrats were "freaking out" about Biden being their candidate following his widely panned performance at last month's debate with former President Donald Trump.
Biden has been under increasing pressure to withdraw due to questions about his fitness for office following the debate performance, with at least 17 sitting Democratic lawmakers openly calling for him to step aside.
While Obama has repeatedly indicated that she has no interest in running, Cruz argued that she or Vice President Kamala Harris would certainly replace Biden, while pointing out that he had previously predicted Obama on his podcast Verdict.
"I think he's going to be forced out," Cruz said. "I put the odds of Biden not being on the ballot in November at about 80 percent. I think the Democratic Party is freaking out right now ... They're terrified that he's going to lose in November. And so now they're willing to dump him."
"And if and when they dump him, I think their replacement nominee will be one of two people: It will either be Michelle Obama, or it will be Kamala Harris," he continued. "Ten months ago, I predicted they were going to push Joe Biden out and replace him with Michelle Obama. That may still prove to be the case."
Newsweek reached out for comment to the office of Barack and Michelle Obama via online press contact form on Thursday evening.
A poll released by Reuters/Ispos earlier this month suggested that Michelle Obama would perform significantly better than Biden against Trump and far better than other alternative candidates, crushing the former president in a hypothetical matchup by an 11-point margin.
Regardless, Obama has been unequivocal in her opposition to becoming a political candidate over the years and appears extremely unlikely to enter the race this year.
"As former first lady Michelle Obama has expressed several times over the years, she will not be running for president," Crystal Carson, director of communications for Obama's office, told NBC News earlier in the year. "Mrs. Obama supports President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' reelection campaign."
Mark Shanahan, American politics professor at the University of Surrey in the U.K., previously told Newsweek that it was "highly unlikely" that Obama would change her mind, arguing that she is a "non-politician" who is uninterested in the "pressure cooker" of public office.
"While Donald Trump has shown that one doesn't have to be a politician to become president, Michelle Obama is a non-politician who has experienced eight years of the White House from the inside," Shanahan said. "Why would she ever want to go back into that pressure cooker? Being at the president's side as FLOTUS is a million miles away from being POTUS."
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Aila Slisco is a Newsweek night reporter based in New York. Her focus is on reporting national politics, where she ... Read more
