By Brian Niemietz
New York Daily News
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) As Brian Niemietz reports, “The 58-year-old former two-term president reportedly said powerful men are too stuck in their ways to move the world forward.”
New York Daily News
This ought to have conspiracy theorists scratching their tin foil helmets.
Speaking at a private event in Singapore, where he’s traveling with former first lady Michelle Obama, former President Barack Obama implied the front-runners from both parties should step aside for a female candidate.
“Women, I just want you to know, you are not perfect, but what I can say pretty indisputably is that you’re better than us,” Obama reportedly said Monday. “I’m absolutely confident that for two years if every nation on Earth was run by women, you would see a significant improvement across the board on just about everything.”
The 44th president’s comments were reported by the BBC.
Obama, who implied his days in government may be over, also gave something less than a ringing endorsement for Democratic candidates Joe Biden, 77; Michael Bloomberg, 77; Bernie Sanders, 78, or GOP incumbent Donald Trump, 73.
“If you look at the world and look at the problems it’s usually old people, usually old men, not getting out of the way,” Obama continued.
Among the issues Obama thinks female leaders would excel are war and youth issues. The 58-year-old former two-term president reportedly said powerful men are too stuck in their ways to move the world forward.
“They cling to power, they are insecure, they have outdated ideas and the energy and fresh vision and new approaches are squashed,” he said.
Late last month, Fox News conspiracy theorist Tucker Carlson floated the idea Michelle Obama could be a strong presidential candidate, even though she’s not on the 2020 ticket and has repeatedly said she has no interest in seeking public office. Conservative outlets including the Washington Examiner glommed onto the unfounded speculation.
“If you’re wondering who the Democratic nominee will be, don’t bet against Michelle Obama,” the right-wing pundit reportedly said late last month on his Fox News program.
Carlson’s comments came days after Michelle, visiting the Lower East Side, repeated her often-made claim that she is not seeking public office.
During her 2019 book tour for her best-seller “Becoming,” Michelle said she was “not interested in politics” and was looking forward to enjoying civilian life after eight years in the White House, according to Newsweek. In August, the former first lady clearly stated again there was “zero chance” she’d run for president.
A USA Today poll published Oct. 30 showed nearly one in five Democratic voters would like to see their party’s list of 2020 presidential candidates expand, and 10% of those surveyed chose Michelle Obama as the newcomer they’d support.
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