Texas Sen. Ted Cruz suggested the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee would be a "coin flip" between President Joe Biden and former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Cruz made his remarks during a Wednesday episode of the Texas senator's podcast, Verdict With Ted Cruz.
The senator said the former First Lady was "pitching her qualifications" during recent media appearances.
"Like everything she knows, because she was married to Barack Obama when he was president, and still is today that she, like knows everything the president needs to know," Cruz said. “It does feel a little bit like a pitch of, ‘hey, guys, I’m here, I’m ready. I can step in, and I’m willing to do it,'”
The Texas senator referenced Obama's recent appearance on podcaster Jay Shetty's On Purpose in which the former First Lady said she was "terrified" of the upcoming election.
“My assessment a couple of months ago was the odds of Michelle being the nominee were 35 percent," Cruz said. "Based on this interview, I would change those odds from 35 percent to 45 percent."
Cruz said he still believed Biden would remain the likely Democratic presidential candidate, though said the odds of the former First Lady being selected in place of Biden were "almost a coin flip."
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/867-verdict-with-ted-cruz-56253661/episode/will-michelle-obama-replace-biden-plus-141626669/ Cruz said Obama was "dangerous" and had a "patina of Teflon" because she isn't largely portrayed as "partisan" or "combative" in media and public opinion. "I think she’s incredibly partisan," he said. "I think she’s more partisan than Barack is and was as president, but look, if you look at the polling numbers, Michelle Obama is the most popular woman on the face of the planet. And that’s just objectively true. And a First Lady is protected by that, particularly a first lady that had eight years of the media and Hollywood just singing her praises.” “What’s going to happen in this next election? I am terrified about what could possibly happen,” Obama said. “Because our leaders matter: who we select, who speaks for us, who holds that bully pulpit. It affects us in ways that sometimes I think people take for granted.”Loading...
“The fact that people think that government, ‘Eh,’ you know, ‘Does it really even do anything?’" Obama continued. "And I’m like, ‘Oh my God, does government do everything for us.’ And we cannot take this democracy for granted.’ And sometimes I worry that we do.”
