Karl Rove blasts ‘lunacy’ of ‘conspiratorial right’ claiming Michelle Obama will replace Biden

Not first time conspiracy has surfaced

Republican strategist Karl Rove blasted the “lunacy” of the “conspiratorial right” for bizarre theories that Michelle Obama would replace Joe Biden as the Democratic Party’s 2024 candidate.

Mr Rove, former deputy chief of staff to George W Bush, was being interviewed by Stuart Varney on Fox Business when the host brought up the idea of the former first lady replacing the incumbent president on the ticket ahead of November’s election.

The conspiracy is not new, having been floated as recently as last month by Georgia Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene, and surfacing ahead of other recent elections.

On Wednesday, the concept did not arise out of nowhere, with Mr Rove suggesting it was possible that President Biden might not end up being the Democratic nominee.

“Somebody is going to wake up on that side, Jill Biden or maybe his sister, Valerie Biden Owens and say, ‘You know, Joe, this is not the way for you to go down in the history books’,” Mr Rove told Varney.

“Step aside, let somebody else be chosen at the convention and let somebody else go … against Donald Trump in the fall.’ I just think the Democrats are not going to allow this to continue.”

Varney lept at the notion and asked the prospect of Ms Obama but was quickly shot down by Mr Rove who was shaking his head before the Fox Business host could finish asking the question.

“No, no, look, look, she hates politics,” Rove said. “You read her autobiography. She didn’t want her husband to run for the state Senate. She didn’t want him to run for the presidency. She is not a political animal,” he began.

Continuing, he said even if the former first lady woke up tomorrow and decided she did want to run, people would see it as Barack Obama trying to get a third term in office and they wouldn’t go for it.

“The starting point is, she hates politics. This is a weird obsession of the conspiratorial right, and it’s just lunacy, pure lunacy.”

He continued by saying that when he was advising former president Donald Trump on his re-election in 2020, the same theory had been raised by members of the campaign team.

“They thought somehow or another, Biden was going to be pushed aside by Obama, Andrew Cuomo was going to be the Democratic candidate, and his running mate was going to be Michelle Obama,” he said.

“And, you know, I told the other Trump people, including the president himself, this is sheer utter lunacy, starting with the fact she hates politics, period.

“She loves the life she’s got,” he concluded.

In a recent interview, Ms Obama confessed that worries over the 2024 election keep her awake at night. It is highly doubtful these worries include running for office.