Bettors are unconvinced by the persistent rumors that Michelle Obama is plotting to depose Joe Biden and seek the presidency.
Concerns about President Joe Biden's physical and mental health, as well as his stamina, have been growing for months, and with them, speculation about possible successors in the event that he withdraws, as one Australia-based news outlet reported.
Vice President Kamala Harris isn't the only one whose name keeps popping up.
In a shocking piece published in The New York Post last month, Cindy Adams asserted that former President Barack Obama had been clandestinely communicating with possible contributors on behalf of his wife, and that a scheme to assassinate her would be implemented in May.
An interview the former first lady gave in which she expressed concern about Donald Trump's re-election was cited by former Fox News personality Megyn Kelly as evidence, further fueling the flames.
“She has nothing to promote,” Kelly said on her podcast The Megyn Kelly Show. “She has no book, she has no event, so that means she called them and said: ‘I have something to say.’”
Betting on Michelle Obama's presidential campaign has revealed a group of folks who are firmly convinced that change is on the horizon.
According to US betting markets, she is the front-runner to replace Biden in the event of his resignation. However, her odds on the Australian Betfair Exchange changed by $3, from $14 to $11, indicating a significant influx of bets.
The rumors were partially dispelled by Bruce Wolpe, a former media executive and counsel to Democrats in Congress who collaborated with Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
“This insipid, stupid ‘rumor’ has no basis whatsoever, and it is a complete waste of time to even speculate on it, much less discuss it seriously,” Mr Wolpe, a non-resident senior fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, said.
“It is unworthy of any attention whatsoever.”
Prominent Republican strategist Karl Rove agrees, describing the discourse as "pure lunacy" and noting that identical rumors surfaced years prior during Mr. Trump's 2020 re-election campaign.
“They thought somehow or another, Biden was going to be pushed aside by Obama, Andrew Cuomo was going to be the Democratic candidate, and his running mate was going to be Michelle Obama,” Mr Rove told Fox News.
“And, you know, I told the other Trump people, including the president himself, this is sheer [and] utter lunacy, starting with the fact she hates politics, period. She loves the life she’s got.”
