‘I’ve never expressed any interest in politics. Ever,’ Obama told Oprah Winfrey in 2023.

Fine. But why doesn’t anyone outside of the chattering political punditry seem to believe her?

Vegas betting odds have placed Michelle Obama as high as 11 to 1 — the third most likely outcome behind Donald Trump and Joe Biden — to become the next President.

What has convinced the high rollers that Michelle is a better bet than Kamala Harris, Nikki Haley, Gavin Newsom, or Gretchen Whitmer?

It is that despite everyone – from George W. Bush’s campaign mastermind Karl Rove to Barack Obama‘s chief strategist David Axelrod – insisting that the Michelle 2024 theory is pure lunacy common sense suggests otherwise.

Rumors that Mrs. Obama might run for president have plagued the Washington political scene for years. But she has always denied that she wants the job.

Is Michelle Obama ready to follow in Hillary Clinton ‘s footsteps? I’m not suggesting the former First Lady would take a hammer to her old cell phones or lie to Congress .

She’s never been elected to public office, the naysayers remind us. Yes, but neither had Trump.

Let’s face it, that ‘sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory’ has taken on the smell of last month’s tuna casserole forgotten in the back of the fridge.

Prominent Democrats openly admit that Biden’s advanced age is an immense problem.

Axelrod, Democrat political guru James Carville and even Hillary Clinton herself have suggested it would be better for the country if Joe were put out to pasture.

At least they’re still sentient. Eighty-six percent of voters think Biden is just too darn old.

He even declined to do the annual Super Bowl interview, a modern American tradition for sitting presidents – and a guaranteed softball home run derby for any Democrat.

When a president passes up a friendly media appearance in front of 120 million viewers during campaign season, you know there’s a problem.

That was before Special Counsel Robert Hur put out a report painting the picture of a man in decline who isn’t fit to be left alone in the kitchen – let alone run against Trump whilst governing the United States of America.

The White House responded to that DOJ bombshell by wheeling Biden out on a kamikaze mission to speak to reporters during which he forgot where his son’s rosary is from and whether Egypt or Mexico borders Gaza.

It is increasingly likely that Democrats are going to look for a way out of their conundrum. But who is there to pick up the baton?

Democrats have fewer options than Hunter Biden at a job fair.

Vice President Kamala Harris is Joe’s obvious replacement at the top of the ticket, and she told the Wall Street Journal that she is ‘ready to serve.’ Except her approval ratings have fallen faster than Joe’s jowls.

The left is desperate – but they’re not suicidal. Kamala’s cooked.

Axelrod (above, left), Democrat political guru James Carville and even Hillary Clinton herself have suggested it would be better for the country if Biden were put out to pasture.

Let’s face it, that ‘sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory’ has taken on the smell of last month’s tuna casserole forgotten in the back of the fridge.

The corrosive rules of progressive identity politics dictate that whoever jumps ahead of Harris — the first woman, the first Black American, and the first South Asian American to be elected to be V.P. — must also check quite a few frivolous boxes.

That rules out snow white, greasy Gavin and bombastic Gretchen.

The liberal media tried to make Mayor Pete happen, but he disqualified himself by being uniquely terrible in his role as Secretary of Transportation.

As far-fetched as it sounds, Michelle Obama could be parachuted into the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August 2024 to lead the party.

Here’s how that would work: in the Democratic primary, delegates won by candidates in the state contests are ethically but not legally bound to support any one person at the nominating convention.

Plus, there are so-called ‘superdelegates’ who aren’t even picked by the voters, but get to vote if a nominee is not chosen after the first ballot.

So, President Biden (after some arm twisting from the party establishment) can decide to step aside at the Chicago convention and throw his support to Michelle.

If he does, the delegates’ votes will follow and voilà… Michelle Obama 2024.

It can absolutely happen — and Michelle would have the entire Democratic machine behind her.

You can’t deny her incredible upsides.

One, she is extremely popular. Her memoir, Becoming, sold more than 10 million copies.

Two, so is her husband, whom most Americans often cite as the greatest president of their lifetime.

The biggest hurdle to installing Michelle behind the Resolute Desk, aside from winning the general election, is actually convincing her to run.

But is that such a challenge?

‘I’ve never expressed any interest in politics. Ever,’ Obama told Oprah Winfrey in 2023. Fine. But why doesn’t anyone outside of the chattering political punditry seem to believe her?

Most Americans often cite her husband as the greatest president of their lifetime.

Would Michelle ‘When They Go low, We Go High’ Obama really say ‘no,’ if she is the only person standing between Trump and the nuclear launch codes?

‘Going high means finding the purpose in your rage,’ Michelle told Stephen Colbert in 2022 in reference to her distinctive catch phrase.

‘Rage without reason, without a plan, without direction is just more rage,’ she explained.

Well, here’s your purpose.

Michelle — who recently said she is ‘terrified’ by the potential outcome of the 2024 election — couldn’t stay sheltered in her multi-million dollar homes, earning big bucks from Spotify and book deals if it’s her or the Orange Ogre.

Further fueling speculation that the Obamas may be eying a return to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is the fact that Barack jumped back into the fray this week, chastising Trump for suggesting that NATO countries are on their own against Russia if they don’t pay their fair share for their own defense.

I can see it now: Sacha, Malia and Barack sneaking smokes in the Rose Garden, while Michelle looks on disapprovingly from the Oval Office.

The only remaining hypothetical that I am truly struggling with is: what does a Michelle Obama administration look like?

She’s never articulated any policy views outside of her Candy Land-authoritarian campaign to ban strawberry milk from school lunches.

Would her regime be a continuation of Barack’s administration?

He once promised to ‘fundamentally transform’ the United States. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think Barry might piggyback on his wife to enjoy a third or even fourth term in office.

Barack’s biographer, David Garrow, seems to think the former president is secretly running the country even now from his home in Kalorama, just a stone’s throw from the White House.

Most of Barack’s former staffers have stuck around DC, either serving with Biden or taking on high-profile gigs in the media, advocacy groups, and lobbying shops.

I can see it now: Sacha, Malia (above, right) and Barack sneaking smokes in the Rose Garden, while Michelle looks on disapprovingly from the Oval Office.

It wouldn’t be too much of an ask for them to hop in a cab from K Street or hitch a ride on the Amtrak from New York City for one last go at radically overhauling America.

At the very least, one can assume that Michelle would bring back Barack’s divisive politics.

Remember when the then-president mused that he could have been Trayvon Martin – that young man killed in 2012 during a brawl with supposed neighborhood watchman, George Zimmerman?

To Mr. Obama that sad story was yet more proof of America’s inherent racism. Michelle shares the sentiment.

At Trump’s inauguration, Michelle complained that ‘there was no diversity, there was no color on that stage.’

She delivered remarks at the DNC in 2020, warning folks to vote against Trump because of his alleged disdain for people of color.

‘[Kids in this country] see our leaders… emboldening torch-bearing white supremacists,’ she declared, after warning that some Americans won’t hear her message because she is ‘a black woman’.

Michelle has also decried America’s alleged ‘systemic racism’, chided men to ‘get it together’ and endorsed the fake gender pay gap myth.

Her 2024 platform would be identity politics on steroids.

So, brush off the idea that Michelle would ever run for president at America’s peril.

I argue that it’s best to start preparing now – because I don’t like these odds.