OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A majority of respondents said in a just-released survey that they don’t believe President Joe Biden is in charge of his own administration and think that his former boss is actually the one pulling the strings.
According to Rasmussen Reports, more than six-in-10 believe former President Barack Obama is influencing the current Biden administration, including 53 percent who think that Biden is a “puppet” in a third Obama administration, Newsmax reported.
According to the poll, 63 percent of likely voters believe that Obama is having an influence on Biden, his former vice president, with 40 percent considering it “very likely.” Even among Democrats, 56 percent believe it is “somewhat likely” that Obama is exerting influence on Biden.
Not only that but 37 percent say they “strongly agree” with Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) who said last July that Biden is “a puppet for a progressive left committee … headed by Obama.” That includes 53 percent of unaffiliated voters; 28 percent of Democrats at least “somewhat agree” that Obama is running Biden’s administration, Newsmax added, citing the survey.
In recent months, there has been much speculation that Michelle Obama will somehow become the Democratic presidential nominee this year, which would entail Biden voluntarily stepping down to allow her to run.
She led political analysts to predict, again, that she will become the party’s nominee with remarks she made during a podcast earlier this month.
Appearing on Jay Shetty’s “On Purpose” podcast, the host asked her what keeps her up at night.
“What keeps me up are the things that I know: the war in the region, in too many regions. What is AI going to do for us? The environment, you know, are we moving at all fast enough?” she began.\
“What are we doing about education? Are people going to vote? And why aren’t people voting? Are we too stuck to our phones? I mean, these are the things that keep me up because you don’t have control over them, and you wonder, where are people, where are we in this, where are our hearts? What’s going to happen in this next election?” she continued.
“I am terrified about what could possibly happen. Because our leaders matter. Who we select, who speaks for us, who holds that bully pulpit. It affects us in ways that, sometimes, I think people take it for granted,” she added. “You know, the fact that people think that government — ‘eh, does it really even do anything?’ — And I’m like, oh my God, does government do everything for us, and we cannot take this democracy for granted. And sometimes, I worry that we do. Those are the things that keep me up.”
Her comments led longtime Republican operative Roger Stone, a vehement ally of former President Donald Trump, to predict anew that she was “positioning” herself to be the nominee.
I continue to predict – as I have for well over two years – that Michelle Obama will be the Democrat Party Nominee for President in 2024.
🚨WATCH as she further positions herself: pic.twitter.com/45qvIAvkIh
— Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) January 8, 2024
The exchange with Shetty, a British-Indian author and co-founder of Same Tea, came as a top financial analyst predicted in a note to clients this week that Biden will drop out of the race sometime this year.
Michael Cembalest, who leads JPMorgan Chase’s market and investment strategy unit in the financial giant’s asset management division, wrote that Biden, 81, will leave the race “sometime between Super Tuesday and the November election, citing health concerns.”
Super Tuesday, which is scheduled for March 5, involves primaries in more than a dozen states, including California, Texas, Massachusetts, Vermont and North Carolina. In the modern era, whoever wins the bulk of Super Tuesday primaries is considered the frontrunner and eventual party nominee.
Cembalest justified his prediction by citing Biden’s taking approval rating, especially for a president who can claim “around 10% job creation since his inauguration,” though much if not most of that was caused by Americans returning to the workforce after lengthy COVID shutdowns, which Cembalest noted in a forecast letter to investors and clients.
He didn’t predict who would take Biden’s spot but predicted it would be “a replacement candidate named by the Democratic National Committee.”
