There have been persistent rumors that former first lady Michelle Obama will swoop in at the last moment and replace President Joe Biden as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee in the 2024 election.
Conservative-leaning podcast host Megyn Kelly, who has downplayed the seemingly absurd idea in the past, has now confirmed that she is hearing such speculation from serious sources behind the scenes, according to Australia's Sky News.
Kelly recently addressed the issue at the end of an interview with network host Paul Murray after first delivering her take on former President Donald Trump, why Republican voters love and support him, and how he was so dominant over his competitors in the GOP primary process.
After Murray raised the topic of Michelle Obama replacing President Biden as the Democratic nominee, Kelly said, "I don’t know, I’ve been all along saying I don’t think it will be Michelle Obama because she doesn’t want to be back in Washington, in the White House, or in politics."
"However, I’m hearing more about this alleged reach out to top Democratic donors by the Obamas to see if they would support it," she continued. "There have been two reports now in the New York Post from -- yes, the gossip columnist, Cindy Adams -- but that's twice now she's saying she's heard this, and I've heard it as well, that there's been a reach out."
"So maybe it's true," Kelly stated. "I mean, the donors are going to talk about it if they get a reach out from Michelle and Barack Obama about whether there’s an appetite for her."
"And the one thing I know, Paul, is if she wants it, I believe she will get it," she continued. "I know many people believe that Joe Biden won't step aside, and I agree that he'll try not to."
"I just think the din in support of Michelle Obama in Democrat circles will be so loud he won't be allowed to ignore it," Kelly added, along with a prediction that Biden's "numbers will go down" and that he'll "have a slip or a fall" and Obama will be viewed as the answer to the Biden "crisis."
Kelly referenced in her commentary a pair of recent articles from New York Post gossip columnist Cindy Adams, the first of which outlined the rumors she was hearing from major Democratic donors and Wall Street CEOs about outreach from the Obamas to gauge the level of support a presidential run by the former first lady might receive.
The second column, published less than a week later, doubled down on the initial report and asserted that additional confirmation on the Obamas' outreach effort had been shared by "credible sources," who informed her that "Obama has polled donors."
Adams went on to further speculate that, based on what she was hearing, Biden would continue to pretend that he was running for re-election until at least May, if not up until the Democratic nominating convention in August. At that point, he would suddenly drop out and step aside for Obama to be nominated.
There is undoubtedly some level of concern and fear among Democrats, including the donor base as well as the voter base, about President Biden's age and the deterioration of his physical and mental capabilities and how that will factor in with his likely electoral rematch against former President Trump.
Another factor fueling the speculation is Biden's perpetually dismal job approval numbers -- he's been at or below 40% since last summer -- as well as the fact that Trump has continued to surge ahead in the 2024 general election polls while the incumbent president has faltered over the past several months.
The idea that Michelle Obama -- who has repeatedly expressed her distaste for politics and Washington D.C. -- would be the last-minute replacement for Biden seems ridiculous, but given the rather weak bench of alternatives that Democrats have to work with in this election cycle, it may be the only chance the party has to maintain control over the White House and the executive branch.
