Fox News host Tucker Carlson told voters not to rule out the possibility of the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination going to former first lady Michelle Obama, despite her insistence that she isn’t planning a run.
“If you’re wondering who the Democratic nominee will be, don’t bet against Michelle Obama,” he said on Monday’s Tucker Carlson Tonight. “Last week, the former first lady issued a statement claiming she has no interest in being president, but there are signs that’s not true.”
Carlson then pointed to several examples that have made him suspicious about a potential Obama bid, including David Axlerod’s attacks on 2020 front-runner and former Vice President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama’s refusal to endorse Biden in the race so far, and reports that the former president tried to convince his No. 2 not to enter.
“If Obama had endorsed Biden, the race would be over … Obama hasn’t endorsed Joe Biden because he doesn’t want to. Why? Maybe he’s got other plans,” he speculated. “Obama’s presidential memoir was also supposed to come out this year. 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 Trump, America will be talking about the Obamas. Coincidence? Maybe.”
He added, “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 … The Democratic 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.”
Carlson then pointed out that the former first lady was found to be the most admired woman in the world in a recent poll. He also warned his viewers to expect the unexpected.
“One of the main lessons of Donald Trump’s 2016 election is that you never really know. Unexpected things happen far more often than we imagine,” he said, before playing a 2006 clip of Barack Obama insisting he wasn’t planning on running for the Oval Office in 2008. “Just months after he did that, Barack Obama joined the presidential race. Three years later, almost to the day, he was inaugurated president of the United States.”
In addition to being the most admired woman in the world, another poll found that Michelle Obama would be a front-runner in New Hampshire, a key early voting state, if she runs. While she’s insisted there is “zero chance” she’ll seek the Oval Office, family friends of the Obamas have publicly said she’d make a “good president.”
If she were to enter, she’d be joining a crowded field of 18 Democrats and has already missed some filing deadlines. However, that hasn’t deterred other late-entry candidates, including former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who launched his campaign on Sunday.
The Washington Examiner‘s Joseph Simonson contributed to this report.
