Former First Lady Michelle Obama was invited to join presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s campaign — and one insider says she made a decision.
The rumors that Michelle Obama would accept a Biden vice president nomination were shut down by Valerie Jarrett, a close friend of the couple.
“No chance,” she said.
The announcement comes on the heels of a Biden interview with a Pittsburgh television station, in which he said he would take Mrs. Obama as his running mate “in a heartbeat.”
But Jarrett told The Hill that there’s no interest from the Obama camp.
“Of course he would take her. That’s not the question,” Jarrett said. “The question is, is this the way in which she wants to continue her life of service?”
“The reason why I’m being so unequivocal is that there just simply has never been a time when she’s expressed an interest in running for office,” she added. “She’s not demurring here. She’s not being hard to get. She doesn’t want the job.”
If anyone knows the Obamas, it’s Jarrett –– she reportedly has an intimate relationship with the pair after serving as former President Obama’s advisor for many years.
“There is a difference between being a public servant and being a politician, and she has no interest in being a politician,” Jarrett continued telling The Hill. “Her husband was interested in being both. She’s only interested in the service component.”
Fox News editor Brie Stimson hinted that part of her large popularity among Democrats is because she stays out of the fray.
But she won’t remain too far away from the political sphere –– she still intends to endorse Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign.
And as for Biden himself, after vowing he’d pick a woman to be his vice president, he has several options that pundits have heavily speculated might be the choice:
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.
Biden has confirmed with talk show host James Corden that he will narrow his decision down to a couple of prospects in July.
The Horn editorial team