Will Michelle Obama’s 2018 book, Becoming, be followed by her becoming the Democrat presidential nominee? Observers such as radio giant Rush Limbaugh have long considered this a distinct possibility, and now Fox News titan Tucker Carlson has joined El Rushbo in thus opining.
“Now, last week, the former first lady issued a statement saying that she has no interest in being president,” the Fox News host stated on the Monday segment of his show, Tucker Carlson Tonight. “That’s what she claimed. But there are signs that that’s not true.”
Carlson began laying out his case by alleging that former Obama advisor David Axelrod has actually been, for months now, “waging a scorched-earth campaign” against Joe Biden. Axelrod has called the Democrat frontrunner “a liar, called him a coward, all but accused him of having dementia,” Tucker Carlson asserted. “Now, would David Axelrod be doing all that without the consent of the Obamas? No, there’s no chance,” he continued.
Moreover, Obama has done nothing to defend Biden, has refrained from endorsing him, and, in fact, also reportedly tried to convince his two-term vice president and supposed great friend not to run in the first place, Carlson pointed out.
If “Obama had endorsed Biden, the race would be over,” Carlson asserted. “Obama hasn’t endorsed Joe Biden because he doesn’t want to…. Why? Maybe he’s got other plans.”
“Obama’s presidential memoir was also supposed to come out this year,” the host continued. “Now, its release has been delayed until the middle of the Democratic primaries. In other words, at exactly the moment when Democrats will be thinking deeply about how to beat Donald Trump, America will be talking about the Obamas. Coincidence? Maybe it is.”
“Maybe it’s also a coincidence that Michelle Obama just released yet another book last week, one that will require her, of course, to get on the road and talk to crowds,” Carlson further related. Then, pointing out the current Democrat field’s weakness, he stated that their party “is ripping itself apart over race, and gender, and class.”
“Michelle Obama, let’s be honest, is one of the only people who could unite its warring factions,” he added (video below. Relevant portion begins at 18:16).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmWJ-vPB2S8
Carlson suggested that Obama could actually win the general election, mentioning a poll finding her to be the most admired woman in the world. This is true, but perspective is needed.
The survey in question, annually conducted by YouGov, also found Obama to be the most admired woman in the United States. Yet with dozens of figures listed, all this means is that she was chosen by 15.37 percent of respondents. Moreover, Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ranked two, and no one thinks she’d stand any chance of winning a presidential election.
Moreover, as Dale Carnegie’s old book How to Win Friends and Influence People counsels, a key to popularity is avoiding the espousal of strong opinions. Obama has enjoyed the benefit of thus refraining, traveling around on a book tour, doing the Oprah Winfrey thing, and mostly avoiding the overtly political. As soon as she became a candidate and had to take stands, however, she’d become more “divisive.”
This doesn’t mean she wouldn’t run. As for her claiming no interest, Carlson pointed out that on January 22, 2006, Barack Obama adamantly swore that he’d serve out his six-year senatorial term and would not seek the presidency, claiming he was weary of even addressing the subject (at 22:10 in the above video).
Yet just months afterwards, B. Obama joined the presidential race, and “three years later, almost to the day, he was inaugurated president of the United States,” Carlson informed.
In fact, mostly forgotten is that Obama had actually admitted in 2004 that he was too inexperienced to be president in 2008. “You know, I am a believer in knowing what you’re doing when you apply for a job,” he said in answer to why he’d ruled out running.
“And I think that, if I were to seriously consider running on a national ticket, I would essentially have to start now, before having served a day in the Senate,” Obama continued. “Now, there are some people who might be comfortable doing that. But I’m not one of those people” (if only the 2008 Obama had listened to the 2004 Obama).
Note that the videos I once posted of this statement have been scrubbed from YouTube. What’s below is the best I could find.
As for M. Obama following her husband’s flip-flop route, Carlson strengthened his case on his show last night. First, he cited reports that B. Obama has promised other Democrats that he’ll publicly “sabotage” presidential aspirant Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) if his campaign takes a nomination lead. Then Carlson mentioned that the ex-president doesn’t like Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), either, and that Obama doesn’t seem interested in any of the contenders.
Carlson seemed to be implying that Obama was perhaps leaving the lane open for his wife. But his guest, fellow Fox host Dana Perino, threw cold water on this, confidently predicting that M. Obama would not run (video below).
Regardless, Carlson has company in his prediction. In July, Canada Free Press editor in chief Judi McLeod wrote that Obama was “Already Out There Hustling Down The Hustings,” and radio giant Rush Limbaugh opined in February, “I think Michelle may be the candidate.”
If Obama did run, she’d enjoy numerous advantages. Being able to check off two identity politics boxes as a black woman, it would be more difficult for President Trump to attack her. In addition, being drafted during a brokered convention — which, if she were to become the nominee, appears the most realistic scenario — would enable her to enter the general election without having adopted the radical positions (e.g., free healthcare for illegals) currently tarnishing virtually all the Democrat contenders. She could plausibly masquerade as a moderate voice. Lastly, her public-relations team, the U.S. media, would provide the most fawning, favorable coverage imaginable.
All this said, I think Obama is even less likely to enter the race than is Hillary Clinton. This is probably a good thing for Republicans, too, and for America. Not only might she be a very strong candidate, but, don’t be fooled, she’d be an even more radical president.
Photo: Whitehouse.gov
Selwyn Duke has written for The New American for more than a decade. He has also written for The Hill, Observer, The American Conservative, WorldNetDaily, American Thinker, and many other print and online publications. In addition, he has contributed to college textbooks published by Gale-Cengage Learning, has appeared on television, and is a frequent guest on radio.
