Michelle Obama spoke to a full crowd at an event in Brooklyn and she told them straight out that she will never run for president. She said it in a way that made it clear she does not believe people are being honest when they say they want her in the White House.
She talked about this while promoting her book The Look and she sat down with Tracee Ellis Ross. She said she does not think the country is actually ready for a woman president and maybe has never been ready for one at all.
Michelle told the audience: “Well, as we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain’t ready.” The crowd cheered but she said it with a tone that made it clear the message was not meant to be exciting because she feels the results speak for themselves.
She pushed it even more when she said: “That’s why I’m like, ‘Don’t even look at me about running, ’cause you all are lying’.” She added: “You’re not ready for a woman. You are not. So don’t waste my time.” The response in the room was loud but she did not soften anything and she let the frustration show.
Michelle has been saying no to political work for years. When she first left the White House she told a crowd in Orlando that she would never run for office and she said: “I wouldn’t ask my children to do this again.” She talked about how difficult those years had been for her family and how heavy the attention felt.
She explained that she believes she can do more outside of politics and she said she never looked back at those years with any kind of nostalgia. She even said some people treated her like she was the devil and those memories shaped her decision to stay away from campaigns.
Even with all her refusals people kept hoping she would change her mind. In 2018 she talked at a leadership conference and said that being loved does not mean someone is meant for political life. She said she never had the fire needed for it and she pointed out that other women do have that fire but she was never one of them.
She admitted she never wanted her husband to run either and said she went into that life “kicking and screaming.” She said the desire for power or office was never in her and nothing about the experience changed that feeling.
In a conversation with Oprah Winfrey she said she never wanted politics at all and wondered why people kept ignoring her answers. She repeated the same thing this year on the Not Gonna Lie podcast and said the decision was final and not open to discussion.
Her message now is that people might want the idea of her but not the reality of a woman president. She believes the country keeps circling around the same question because it is easier to imagine her running than to actually support a woman on the ballot. Her answer has stayed the same and she made sure no one walked out thinking there was any chance she would change it.
