MOSCOW: Michelle Obama, wife of former US President Barack Obama, will not run for the presidency in the 2024 campaign despite persistent rumours to the contrary, her office said on Tuesday, reported Sputnik.
Barack Obama has said on multiple occasions that he fully supports incumbent US President Joe Biden in his run for a second term, although rumours about a potential Michelle Obama run in the election have continued to circulate. The Democratic Party has privately discussed the possibility of replacing Biden with Michelle Obama in the election campaign, media reported. However, Obama's office dismissed those rumours.
"As former First Lady Michelle Obama has expressed several times over the years, she will not be running for president ... Mrs. Obama supports President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' re-election campaign," the director of communications for her office, Crystal Carson, told NBC News.
In addition, sources familiar with the matter told the broadcaster that the former first lady intended to assist Biden's election campaign in the fall as she had done four years ago.
Michelle Obama's name has on many occasions come up in discussions among Democrats, in particular, Democratic Party donors, who are concerned about Biden's low ratings.
In mid-February, US Special Counsel Robert Hur released a report on his investigation into Biden's mishandling of classified documents in which he cited several instances of Biden forgetting key dates in his life and career, including his time serving as US vice president and the date his son Beau Biden died.
Following the release of the report, Biden delivered a speech defending his memory, but subsequently mixed details up, calling Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Sisi the president of Mexico, and became upset after reporters questioned whether his memory had gotten worse with age.
The United States is scheduled to hold its 2024 presidential election on November 5. –BERNAMA