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Michelle Obama Says U.S. Not Ready for a Woman President, Rejects Calls to Run

She cited Kamala Harris’s 2024 loss as evidence that voter attitudes still block women from the presidency.

Overview

  • Obama made the remarks during a Nov. 5 conversation with Tracee Ellis Ross at the Brooklyn Academy of Music while promoting her new book, The Look, with video posted online Friday.
  • “Don’t even look at me about running, because you all are lying,” she said, adding that the country has “a lot of growing up to do.”
  • She argued that many men still do not feel they can be led by a woman, pointing to what she described as clear evidence in the last election.
  • The former first lady has long and repeatedly ruled out a presidential run, a position she has maintained since at least 2016.
  • Public interest persists, with a 2024 Reuters/Ipsos hypothetical matchup showing strong support for her, even as surveys such as American University’s highlight ongoing reluctance to elect a woman president.