There is “no chance” former First Lady Michelle Obama will be Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s running mate, according to a top Obama adviser and friend of the family.
Former Obama White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said Tuesday that Obama would not consider being Biden’s vice president in an interview with The Hill, telling the outlet that she simply is not interested in being on the Democratic presidential ticket.
“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,” Jarrett said.
“She’s not demurring here. She’s not being hard to get. She doesn’t want the job,” she continued.
Biden has said on numerous occasions that he would love for the former first lady to be on the ticket with him, though always noting that it would never happen.
As recently as Monday, the Democratic nominee said to CBS Pittsburgh that he’d have her has his running mate “in a heartbeat. She’s brilliant, she knows the way around, she’s a really fine woman. The Obamas are great friends.”
Regardless of whether Biden would take her, according to Jarrett, Obama is not interested.
“Of course he would take her. That’s not the question. The question is, is this the way in which she wants to continue her life of service?”
Biden has committed to his running mate being a woman, with many advisers around him pushing for a woman of color.
Among the top names on his short list include Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.) and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.
Despite not planning to be on the ticket, the former first lady is reportedly in talks to endorse the former vice president in the near future.
Obama and Biden’s teams are discussing how she can help with virtual fundraising and voter registration, with one Biden aide describing her weighty endorsement as “a big deal,” The Hill reported Friday.
Former President Barack Obama threw his support behind his former running mate last week.
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