--- description: President Barack Obama on Friday shut down speculation that First Lady Michelle Obama might pursue a political career of her own title: Michelle Obama 'Will Never Run For Office,' President Says image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee0ef18776655457/6988abf6fb4eac79ad88fa66/michelle-obama-political-office.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Michelle Obama ‘Will Never Run for Office,’ President Says  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 28, 2016 3:39 PM CUT  First Lady Michelle Obama speaks during a campaign rally for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in Winston-Salem, N.C. on Oct. 27, 2016. First Lady Michelle Obama speaks during a campaign rally for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in Winston-Salem, N.C. on Oct. 27, 2016.Peter Zay—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 28, 2016 3:39 PM CUT President Barack Obama on Friday shut down speculation that First Lady Michelle Obama might pursue a political career of her own. The First Lady has become one of Hillary Clinton’s most popular and effective surrogates during the presidential race. She has captured audiences with impassioned, emotional speeches at the [Democratic National Convention](http://time.com/4423176/democratic-convention-michelle-obama-star/ "undefined") and [on the campaign trail](http://motto.time.com/4530580/michelle-obama-donald-trump-comments-sexual-assault/ "undefined"). At a [rally in North Carolina](http://time.com/4548363/michelle-obama-hillary-clinton-north-carolina/ "undefined") on Thursday, it was Clinton who spoke first and introduced Michelle Obama to resounding applause. Her popularity has led some to suggest she might seek elected office herself, but her husband ruled it out in an interview Friday. “She will never run for office,” President Obama said during a radio interview on _Sway in the Morning_. “She is as talented and brilliant a person as there is, and I could not be prouder of her, but Michelle does not have the patience or the inclination to actually be a candidate herself. And that’s one thing y’all can take to the bank.” He said he and his wife will continue advocating for certain causes once they leave the White House. “We’re going to continue to be very active in issues we care about,” he said, mentioning two of their initiatives, [My Brother’s Keeper](http://time.com/10557/obama-my-brothers-keeper-minorities-race/ "undefined") and [Let Girls Learn](http://time.com/4260808/michelle-obama-global-girls-education/ "undefined"). “We’re going to be doing a lot of work. We’ll just be doing it a different way.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4549148/president-obama-michelle-obama-wont-run-for-office/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4549148/president-obama-michelle-obama-wont-run-for-office/"},"headline":"Michelle Obama ‘Will Never Run for Office,’ President Says","datePublished":"2016-10-28T15:39:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:29:34.111Z","description":"\"That's one thing y'all can take to the bank\"","url":"https://time.com/4549148/president-obama-michelle-obama-wont-run-for-office/","keywords":["Barack Obama","White House","Michelle Obama","flotus"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee0ef18776655457/6988abf6fb4eac79ad88fa66/michelle-obama-political-office.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee0ef18776655457/6988abf6fb4eac79ad88fa66/michelle-obama-political-office.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Michelle Obama Campaigns With Hillary Clinton In North Carolina","caption":"Michelle Obama Campaigns With Hillary Clinton In North Carolina","creditText":"Peter Zay—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4549148/president-obama-michelle-obama-wont-run-for-office/","name":"Michelle Obama ‘Will Never Run for Office,’ President Says"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Michelle Obama Campaigns for Hillary Clinton","description":"Obama has already campaigned notably for Clinton, but the Winston-Salem rally marks the first time she’s campaigning with the nominee.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/RlLzmirb/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-10-27T21:09:16.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RlLzmirb.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4549148/president-obama-michelle-obama-wont-run-for-office/","duration":"PT2M9S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4549148/president-obama-michelle-obama-wont-run-for-office/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```