Michelle Obama is 'absolutely correct' saying America not ready for a woman president, Dem lawmaker says
Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said on Sunday that former first lady Michelle Obama was "absolutely correct" in claiming that America was not ready for a woman president.
"If you look at the history, we demonstrated that we were not ready," Clyburn said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "These are incredible women who have run: Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, and I think that we are getting there. That’s why we can’t afford to turn the clock back. We’ve taken one, two and three steps forward and let’s not take two, three and four steps backwards which is what we are doing in these elections."
Obama's comments came last month while promoting her new book, "The Look," where she cited former Vice President Kamala Harris' 2024 presidential election loss to President Donald Trump as proof the country wasn't "ready."
"As we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain’t ready," she said. "That’s why I’m like, don’t even look at me about running, because you all are lying. You’re not ready for a woman. You are not."
The former first lady went on to say that she did not believe men in America are comfortable with a woman leading them.
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"You know, we’ve got a lot of growing up to do, and there’s still, sadly, a lot of men who do not feel like they can be led by a woman, and we saw it," Obama continued.
Despite agreeing with Obama, Clyburn said that people shouldn't stop the "pursuit" for a female president.
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"My dad used to tell me all the time, ‘Son, the darkest part of the night is that moment just before dawn,’" Clyburn said. "And so we may be in a dark moment as it relates to women serving as president, but we may be in that moment just before dawn, where the woman will serve. And in order for that to happen, they have got to run. So I want women to run. I want to support them. I’m the father of three fantastic women. I want them to keep their pursuit and not give up on this country."
Fox News Digital reached out to Obama's office for comment.