Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) on Sunday backed Michelle Obama’s remarks that the U.S. was not yet ready for a woman president.
Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Clyburn said he agreed with the former first lady after moderator Kristen Welker played a clip of Obama pointing to the 2024 election as a sign that America was ill-equipped to welcome a female president into the White House.
“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 told actor Tracee Ellis Ross at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York last month. “So don’t waste my time.”
“Michelle Obama is absolutely correct. 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.”
Clyburn also argued that America shouldn’t take a step backward.
“Just because it doesn’t seem that we are ready doesn’t mean we should stop the pursuit,” 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 when a woman will serve. And in order for that to happen, they have got to run. So I want women to run. I’m going to support them.”
Watch Clyburn’s appearance on “Meet the Press” below.