Michelle Obama praises Biden but stops short of full-throated 2024 endorsement

By Kate Bennett, CNN

Former First Lady Michelle Obama said she thinks President Joe Biden is “doing a great job,” but stopped short of a full-throated endorsement for another White House run in a recent interview.

“You know, I, I — I will have to see,” Obama said when asked if she hoped Biden would run again during an an ABC News special that aired Sunday.

Obama then added much of her hesitancy comes from her own experience as first lady, and knowing how important the decision to run for a second term is.

“It’s a personal decision that he and his family have to make. Probably, if I hadn’t been through it, I would feel more cavalier about opining on it,” she said. “But I know it’s a personal call and I don’t want to be one of the millions of people weighing in on what he should do, he and Jill should do.”

The question of Biden’s political future is now front-and-center for Democrats with most midterm election races called. Already, the president’s responses to whether he will mount another bid for the White House have injected questions into the developing 2024 race.

In September, Biden said it was “much too early” to make the decision on whether he would run again, opening the door to potentially not seeking another term. And last month, the president said he has not made a formal decision, but called it his “intention” to do so.

At 79, Biden is already the oldest president in American history and, as CNN previously reported, his public schedule has led to questions about how extensive a campaign he’d engage in if he runs.

Obama is promoting her new book, “The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times,” which goes on sale Tuesday.

The former first lady added that Biden is “doing the best he can.”

“It’s probably the only job that few people know what it feels like to do, but everybody thinks they know how to do it. Everybody’s a backseat driver when it comes to being Commander in Chief of the most powerful nation on earth,” said Obama. “But it’s a tough job and I think that he’s doing the best he can under some tough circumstances.”

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