What the hell is Ted Cruz talking about?
Michelle Obama 2024!
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz has a podcast. You may or may not know that.
On a recent episode, Cruz, who, reminder, is a sitting U.S. Senator, floated a genuine conspiracy theory about how the 2024 race will play out.
Here’s what he said:
Here is the scenario I think is most likely and most dangerous. In August of 2024 the Democratic kingmakers jettison Joe Biden and parachute in Michelle Obama…When I see the media turning on Joe Biden right now, I think the odds of Michelle Obama parachuting in in August of 2024 have risen dramatically.
This is the “most likely” scenario that Cruz sees for the presidential race? Really.
Let’s pause for a minute and revisit what Michelle Obama has said (and not said) about running for political office.
She has repeatedly expressed zero interest in doing so — telling Oprah Winfrey earlier this year that she would never run for the office.
It’s also worth noting that past is prologue in these situations. Usually candidates interested in running for office, you know, run for office. People who are repeatedly courted to do so and don’t — like Michelle Obama and Condoleezza Rice — tend to not be interested in running for office.
Facts aside, Cruz isn’t the only one pushing the Michelle Obama for president conspiracy.
It appears that the root of the Michelle speculation can be traced back to popular podcaster Joe Rogan. (All roads lead to Rogan!)
In an episode of his podcast just before Christmas 2022, Rogan said this:
“I really believe, if Michelle Obama runs, she wins. She's intelligent, she's articulate, she's the wife of the best president that we have had in our lifetime in terms of like a representative of intelligent, articulate people. She could win.”
The right picked up on the idea.
In May, a publication called the Western Journal wrote a piece headlined “The Democratic Party Just Confirmed Michelle Obama Will Be Its Nominee and Nobody Noticed” that used as its sourcing a quote from a founder of the publication during an interview he gave to the ultra conservative TV network Newsmax. His evidence for the Michelle Obama candidacy? That the Democratic National Committee had decided to hold their 2024 convention in Chicago, the former First Lady’s hometown.
More recently — as in last month — Radar Online published a piece headlined “Desperate Democrats 'Begging Michelle to Run in 2024': Party Insiders 'Secretly Testing Support' for Former First Lady.”
According to the “reporting” in the piece, Barack Obama is already talking up the prospect of his wife as the party’s nominee to Members of Congress.
It is all, well, pretty thin gruel.
Which makes it all the more remarkable that Ted Cruz — again, one of 100 United States Senators — decided to not just mention the conspiracy theory but embrace it.
Or, maybe not. Because Cruz has repeatedly shown a penchant for surfacing conspiracy theories kicking around on right wing social media.
There was the time he promoted a tweet suggesting that the attack on Paul Pelosi was not committed by someone affiliated with right wing politics. He played along with a Tucker Carlson conspiracy about a January 6 protester. He’s suggested that the FBI was somehow involved in the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. He’s insisted that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election.
So, yeah. This is actually kind of Cruz’s thing.
What’s his reasoning for floating the idea of Michelle Obama in 2024 — despite there being literally no facts to back it up?
The former First Lady has long been a subject of fear and fascination for the right wing. (Even Donald Trump, reportedly, fears the possibility of running against Michelle Obama.)
She is quite popular — according to public opinion polls — and is the author of a massive best-selling memoir “Becoming.” As an African American woman, she would presumably, energize a key component of the Democratic base. And as a telegenic and charismatic public figure, she would provide a spark to the ticket that Republicans believe Joe Biden simply doesn’t.
Maybe Cruz wants to stoke the Republican base with the fear of a Michelle Obama candidacy? Maybe he is just indulging, again, his tendency to play footsie with the right wing fever swamps? Or maybe he’s just trying to draw attention (and listeners) to his podcast?
Regardless of the reason, it feels more than a little irresponsible for someone of Cruz’s stature to suggest and promote a notion that every known fact suggests will never happen.
But, Cruz — especially since his run for president in 2016 — has come across more and more as a talking head and provocateur within the MAGA movement as opposed to an elected official. This rank speculation about Michelle Obama fits that transformation perfectly.
RE: "Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz has a podcast. You may or may not know that."
I didn't , Chris, but I can imagine the firehose of disturbing, sanctimonious, self-serving lies that come streaming out of it.
Thanks for your heroic efforts to listen, so that we "civilians" don't have to.
A couple of thoughts come to mind as I read this post regarding Cruz:
First, I get the feeling that Cruz is much like Graham....simply focused on being relevant, without any grounding ideology in particular.
Second, when I hear about these crazy theories, I really wish I could figure out an effective virtual equivalent of looking a guy like that right in the eyes, say he's crazy, shake my head in disbelief, then walk away and actively ignore them. And, if I can figure that out, maybe I could start a movement.