Tucker Carlson: Obama has not backed Biden because Michelle Obama could run

Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Monday speculated that former President Obama has not backed his former vice president, Joe Biden, in the 2020 presidential race because his wife, Michelle Obama, may still enter the 2020 presidential race — despite her numerous previous comments insisting she won’t run for president.

“Don’t bet against Michelle Obama,” Carlson said on his show Monday night. “Last week, the former first lady issued a statement saying that she has no interest in being president. That’s what she claimed. But there are signs that that’s not true.”

{mosads}Carlson noted that Obama adviser David Axelrod’s attacks on Biden, as well as Barack Obama’s refusal to publicly endorse the top contender are two signs that his wife could enter the race.

“If Obama had endorsed Joe Biden, the race would be over,” Carlson said. “Obama hasn’t endorsed Joe Biden because he doesn’t want to endorse Joe Biden. Why? Maybe he’s got other plans.”

Carlson added that it could also be a “coincidence” that the release of Michelle Obama’s newest book would “require her … to get on the road and talk to crowds.”

“Obama’s presidential memoir was also supposed to come out this year. Now, its release has been delayed until the middle of the Democratic primaries,” Carlson said. “In other words, at exactly the moment when Democrats will be thinking deeply about how to beat Donald Trump, America will be talking about the Obamas.”

He added: “The Democratic Party is ripping itself apart over race and gender and class. Michelle Obama, let’s be honest, is one of the only people who could unite the party’s warring factions.”

The former first lady has poured cold water on calls for her to launch a presidential bid, saying she believes there are other ways she can help the nation. She said in August there is “zero chance” that she will run for president.

Biden currently leads the crowded Democratic field in most polling, with a RealClearPolitics average of polls showing him with a more than 10-point lead over Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).