Ted Cruz says Dems could discard Biden for MICHELLE OBAMA and 'parachute' her in as nominee during 2024 convention being held in former first lady's Chicago hometown
By Will Potter
Daily Mail
Sep 23, 2023
Michelle Obama has repeatedly brushed off claims she could seek the presidency, despite high approval among Americans and dwindling options for Democrats in 2024
Former First Lady Michelle Obama could be used as a last resort by Democrat 'kingmakers' to replace President Joe Biden before the 2024 election, according to Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
The former Republican presidential candidate speculated over how Democrats could look to avoid nominating Biden, amid concerns over the 80-year-old's advanced age.
'Here's the scenario that I think is perhaps most likely, and most dangerous,' he said on his 'Verdict with Ted Cruz' podcast. 'In August of 2024, the Democrat kingmakers jettison Joe Biden and parachute in Michelle Obama.'
'I view this as a very serious danger,' he added.
Cruz' baseless theory comes as Democratic voters are growing leery over Biden's ability to win a general election and govern for a second term - at the end of which he would be 86 - with a poll earlier this year finding half of his 2024 voter base feel he is too old to run the White House.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz (pictured July 2023) speculated that 'Democrat kingmakers (could) jettison Joe Biden and parachute in Michelle Obama' at the Democratic National Convention in August 2024
Aside from Biden's apparent cognitive decline, Cruz said there are several reasons Democratic bigwigs could see the former first lady as an attractive option.
'So, Michelle Obama, number one, you don't infuriate African American women, which is a critical part of the constituency that Democrats are relying on to win,' he said.
Obama commands wide support among the American people, and throughout her time in the White House the former first lady consistently gained sky-high approval ratings, according to Gallup.
In a recent YouGov poll, 77 percent of people said they still had a favorable opinion of her, compared to just 15 percent unfavorable.
Thanks to her ongoing popularity, Cruz claimed that Obama may be 'parachuted' into the 2024 Democratic National Convention, which will be held in her hometown of Chicago in August 2024, in a coronation to avoid a hostile inter-party primary.
The Texas senator was less clear on how exactly Obama would win a contentious race to replace Biden, but said 'superdelegates', which are free to support any candidate regardless of voting results, could help her cross the line.
Cruz is not alone in speculating over the former first lady's potential presidential candidacy, with firebrand conservative commentator Tucker Carlson also arguing earlier this year that she could be looked to as a replacement nominee.
'I think this is to make way for Michelle,' he said at the time.
In another scenario Cruz believed to be less likely, he felt that the 'powers that be in the Democratic Party' could persuade Biden to end his re-election campaign soon, which would spark a mad dash to enter the nomination race by a number of candidates.
'If that happens, I think it's a free-for-all,' he added.
If that doubtful sequence of events plays out, the Texas senator named California Governor Gavin Newsom, Vice President Kamala Harris, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren as the likeliest challengers - with Warren the eventual winner, in Cruz's eyes.
While any of those candidates would struggle to be seen as legitimate without winning a primary, Cruz said that tactic of swooping Obama into the convention could work because 'you avoid the problem that if you pick from any of the four, the other three are pissed.'
'Because they're all to some extent peers, they're rivals, they're all jabbing knives at each other,' he continued.
'(But) Michelle Obama, because she was first lady, has the ability to kind of parachute in above all four and say, 'Hey, we're not picking among any of you, you guys can all fight it out next time when you're all going to be on the same level.''
'I think in terms of a solution that unifies Democrats. There ain't nothing like that,' he concluded.
However, Cruz admitted that 'Michelle is not all that eager to run for president', a statement she has made herself on numerous occasions.
President Joe Biden is already America's oldest ever president. He would be 86 at the end of a second term, which is too old according to almost three quarters of American voters
In a DailyMail.com poll from June, it was found that some 49 percent of Democrats admit Joe Biden is too old to be president. Only 28 percent believe he is just the right age
Age is not Biden's only electoral liability. More than half of voters say they are worse off since he came to power — 43 percent say they are a lot
But while Obama's candidacy may be a longshot, there are growing concerns among some Democrats over Biden's apparent decline - including an awkward moment earlier this month when he appeared to wander off during a Medal of Honor ceremony and left a celebrated war hero alone on stage.
Biden's string of gaffes has seen his approval ratings nosedive, and more Americans have disapproved of his performance than approved since August 2021.
According to FiveThirtyEight's poll tracker, his current approval rating stands at -13.3 percent.
The president's dire outlook heading into his re-election campaign didn't get any better in DailyMail.com's polling from June, which found that almost half of Democrats believe he is too old for the top job.
Among likely general election voters from any affiliation, a staggering 71 percent said they felt is too old to be president - let alone at the end of second term, when he would be 86.
It was also found that 52 percent of all voters believed they were worse off since he became president.
1 comment:
I would not bet on Cruz being wrong on this.
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