Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith said he thinks that if former First Lady Michelle Obama ran for president in the 2024 election, she would “hands down” beat former President Trump.
Smith appeared on former NBA player Kevin Garnett’s podcast, KG Certified, where he was asked how close he thinks the United States is to having a female leader.
He told Garnett that he believes if former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign wasn’t tarnished by the email controversy, America “would’ve had a female president in 2016,” adding that he thinks “she was that close.”
“And I think that Michelle Obama would win right now if she were to run. I think that Michelle Obama would hands down be the next president of the United States if she were to run against Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee,” Smith said, highlighted by Mediaite. “Now, that obviously is not gonna happen. She doesn’t seem to have an interest.”
Obama has expressed support for President Biden’s reelection campaign and has squashed rumors about her making a surprise presidential bid.
“As former First Lady Michelle Obama has expressed several times over the years, she will not be running for president,” Crystal Carson, the director of communication for her office said in a statement in March.
The statement follows numerous Republicans floating the evidence-free idea that Obama could replace Biden on the ballot this fall.
In a February poll, she was chosen by Democrats as the top choice to replace Biden on the 2024 ticket. Even though she has the backing from voters, she’s said there’s “zero chance” that she would run.
Smith’s statements follow the rumor that he may one day run for the Oval Office, but he said he doesn’t think the American people would ever vote for him.