Former first lady Michelle Obama said everyone is qualified to run against President Trump, and joked that she might tell her 17-year-old daughter, Sasha, to run in 2020.
“I think at this point everybody is qualified and everybody should run,” she said on ABC Tuesday. “I might even tap Sasha. Sasha, you got some free time? I think you can do a great job.”
[Michelle Obama: I stopped trying to smile at Trump’s inauguration]
.@MichelleObama jokes on 2020 election: “I think at this point everybody is qualified and everybody should run…I might even tap Sasha.” https://t.co/E6lGKfK6oR pic.twitter.com/9OV5P6jF1D
— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 13, 2018
Obama has been adamant that she has no desire to run for public office amid calls that she challenge Trump in the next presidential election.
Obama declined to directly criticize Trump or say who she believes could defeat him in 2020, but called for candidates to treat each other with “dignity and respect” in the primaries.
“Right now we should see anybody who feels the passion to get in this race, we need them in there. I think that the process will play itself out. I haven’t really been paying attention and looking at the candidates. I think there’s a lot of noise and a lot of talk. It’s still pretty early,” she said.
“I hope that we have a lot of great candidates who will get in there and treat each other respectfully,” she added. “I’m going to be looking closely at who handled themselves and each other with dignity and respect.”
