Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., is siding with Michelle Obama’s claim that America isn’t ready for a female president, saying that the former first lady is “absolutely correct” with her stance.
Per Fox News, the Democratic lawmaker weighed in on the topic during an appearance on NBC‘s Meet the Press on Sunday.
“If you look at the history, we demonstrated that we were not ready,” Clyburn said. “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, 61, suggested that Americans were “not ready” to elect a female as president when she was addressing a female audience at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Friday, November 14, to promote her new book, The Look.
To justify her claim that Americans are “not ready” for a female occupying the country’s highest seat, Obama made mention of Donald Trump being elected over Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
“As we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain’t ready,” the former first lady 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.’”
Obama also stated that she feels a lot of men in America do not like the idea of being led by a woman. “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 said.
Though Clyburn sided with Obama’s claim, he urged people to continue the “pursuit” for a female president, Fox News reported.
“My dad used to tell me all the time, ‘Son, the darkest part of the night is that moment just before dawn,’” said Clyburn. “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.”
