Former White House official Valerie Jarrett poured cold water on talk of Michelle Obama becoming Joe Biden’s running mate, saying there is “no chance” she would take an offer to run.
“The reason why I’m being so unequivocal is that there just simply has never been a time when she’s expressed an interest in running for office,” Jarrett told The Hill. “She’s not demurring here. She’s not being hard to get. She doesn’t want the job.”
Jarrett’s remark comes after Biden, the presumptive Democrat presidential nominee, emphatically stated he would pick Obama to be his running mate, though he conceded she likely has no interest in the post.
“I’d take her in a heartbeat,” Biden said in a Monday interview with CBS Pittsburgh. “She’s brilliant. She knows the way around. She is a really fine woman. The Obamas are great friends.”
“I don’t think she has any desire to live near the White House again,” he then added.
Biden has previously floated Obama as his running mate, saying at a January campaign event in Iowa that he “sure would like Michelle to be the vice president.” At the same event, Biden proposed his former boss, President Barack Obama, as a possible Supreme Court Justice pick.
The Biden campaign is currently vetting several women as potential running mates, including failed presidential candidates Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). Also under consideration are Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacy Abrams (D). Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates is also under consideration.