Former first lady Michelle Obama said in an interview Monday that the 2024 election is one of the things keeping her up at night.
Obama, who turns 60 later this month, spoke with Jay Shetty for over an hour for an episode of his On Purpose podcast.
She never used former President Donald Trump's name, but told Shetty she feared Americans would take “democracy for granted,” echoing concerns President Joe Biden shared during his speech at Valley Forge Friday.
'What will happen in the next elections? “I'm terrified of what could happen because our leaders matter,” Obama said.
She continued, “Who we select speaks for us. Whoever holds that bully pulpit, it affects us in ways that I think people sometimes take for granted.”
Former first lady Michelle Obama told podcaster Jay Shetty that she is “terrified” about the 2024 election and expressed concern that Americans were taking democracy for granted, but did not mention former President Donald Trump by name
Obama spoke with podcaster Jay Shetty (pictured) who asked her what kept her awake at night. The former first lady said, “There is such a thing as knowing too much,” which she said was certainly the case when your husband is president of the United States
“You know, the fact that people think that the government, uhh, you know, doesn't even do anything and I think, 'Oh my God, is the government doing everything for us,'” she continued. “And we cannot take this democracy for granted. And sometimes I'm afraid that's true.'
Before mentioning the 2024 election, Obama said she also feared war in “too many regions,” artificial intelligence, climate change, education and people spending too much time on their phones.
'Are people going to vote and why don't people vote?' she also said.
“I mean, those are the things that keep me awake,” Obama said.
Her status as a former first lady, she said, also caused her more concern.
“There is such a thing as knowing too much,” Obama said. “And when you're married to the president of the United States who knows everything about everything in the world, sometimes you just want to turn it off.”
“I don't want to know what was in that folder you just got that made you quiet, you know? “I don't want to know why security just pulled you over,” she continued. “I mean, it could be any number of things that land on the desk of the leader of the free world, right? So I know a lot about what's going on and what keeps me awake are the things I know.'
Since leaving the White House in 2017, Obama said she has taken up knitting — a pandemic-era hobby — and tennis to calm her mind.
“I've developed habits that shut my brain off from thinking,” she said.
“Learning something physical shuts down my mind,” she noted, pointing to her attempts at tennis. 'Nothing shuts down my mind like running after a green ball.'
Michelle Obama's concerns about the 2024 election come next The Washington Post reported this on Saturday that former President Barack Obama attended an off-the-books lunch with Biden in recent months and became “animated,” warning the president that his campaign needed to kick into high gear to counter the threat from Trump.
Trump has outpaced his Republican rivals in the Republican primaries and is ahead of the Democratic president in a number of key swing state polls.
Biden took his first major swipe at Trump in 2024, delivering remarks Friday from Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, a pivotal location in the Revolutionary War.
The president warned that Trump was a threat to democracy, a day before the third anniversary of the Capitol riot.
“Donald Trump's campaign is obsessed with the past and not the future. He is willing to sacrifice our democracy and put himself in power,” Biden said.
Trump fired back at a campaign rally Friday evening in Iowa, telling supporters that Biden “stuttered” during his Jan. 6-themed speech.
“He goes bah bah bah, he's a threat to democracy,” Trump said, mimicking Biden's childhood speech impediment.