It’s not like she should be in the starting line-up for Democrats in the 2024 election on the surrogate front, but given how bad Joe Biden is doing right now, maybe anyone with an approval rating north of 40 percent would be better on the trail. So, where’s Michelle Obama? It’s a name floated as a possible candidate for this year’s election. She’s popular, has name recognition, and could win a national election. However, Mrs. Obama never liked the spotlight and didn’t want the aggravation of the media spectacle that would be her presidential run. She supported her husband during his presidency, but she’s done.
Now, if asked to do some stump work for her party, I’d think she would do a few events, but her absence is reportedly due to a long-standing beef with the Bidens over Hunter Biden’s ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle. Buhle and Mrs. Obama are best friends, with the former first lady not liking how the Biden family treated her post-divorce to that cracked-out disgrace of a son who frolics with hookers while placing M&Ms on his genitalia. It’s a long-standing rift between Michelle and the Bidens going back to 2015. She reportedly had to be convinced not to sit out of the 2020 race (via Axios):
Former First Lady Michelle Obama privately has expressed frustration over how the Biden family largely exiled her close friend Kathleen Buhle after Buhle's messy divorce from Hunter Biden, two people familiar with the relationship told Axios.
Why it matters: The family tensions — and the former first lady's disdain for partisan politics — are partly why one of the Democrats' most popular voices hasn't campaigned for President Biden's re-election, the sources said, even as former President Obama has been a willing surrogate.
Michelle Obama also was initially reluctant to campaign for Biden after he became the Democratic nominee in 2020, people familiar with the situation told Axios.
Biden's team says the relationship between the families is strong, pointing to public displays of camaraderie that continue today. But the sources told Axios that the relationship changed in 2015.
[…]
Michelle Obama, who had become friends with Buhle during the Obama administration, privately told others that she felt Buhle had been wronged.
Buhle had to deal with Hunter's drug use and infidelity — and then Biden family members blamed Buhle for some of the salacious details of his behavior becoming public.
[…]
Between the lines: Despite her initial resistance, Michelle Obama did participate in the 2020 campaign after Democrats privately argued to her that the stakes were too high for her to sit out.
She didn't go out on the stump like Barack Obama did, but she engaged through When We All Vote, which she launched in 2018, gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention, and posted on social media supporting Biden's campaign.
The former first lady could still hit the campaign trail this year, and there have been discussions between the two camps about it.
Top White House aide Anita Dunn and top Michelle Obama aide Melissa Winter recently had lunch and talked about specific ways Biden's campaign could involve the former first lady, two people familiar with the matter told Axios.
Asked whether Michelle Obama would speak at the Democrats' August convention in Chicago — her hometown — a spokesperson for her declined to comment.
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Of course, Mrs. Obama’s camp is trotting out all the remarks to make it appear it’s not Hatfields and McCoys, noting that she’s been quiet because partisan politics aren’t her thing. So, what was the 2020 race? Non-partisan? Also, her communications team is adamant that Michelle supports Biden’s re-election but only for the simple reason that she doesn’t want Trump back. It’s not necessarily out of personal warmth. It was also reported in Axios that the secretive Biden family was not pleased with Buhle authoring her own book, which she reportedly did after crackhead Hunter spilled some details on their failed marriage.
Whatever the reason, Michelle isn’t on the stump despite being part of one of the most popular families in the Democratic Party. These demands are expected when you were part of a two-time Democratic presidency, especially when the last name is Obama. Whether we like it or not, the man remains popular, so I can see why the Biden staff is a bit unnerved by her retreat into solitude.
Both sides will put on a good face in public. Blood feuds are common in American politics.
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