(The Center Square) – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, says the fallout from the presidential debate will result in former First Lady Michelle Obama being chosen to replace President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee. He said Biden would be replaced at the Democratic National Convention in August, three months ahead of the election.

After the first 2024 presidential debate on Thursday night, political analysts and news organizations overwhelmingly reported that Biden lost the debate and would likely lose in November. Some reported that strategists were discussing how to replace him on the ballot.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the debate was “a set-up by the Democrats to replace Biden on the ballot,” referring to his apparent mental decline.

The New York Times reported, “After last night, the Democrats are panicked. … Biden’s voice was hoarse and halting. His answers were often unclear, and he struggled to finish his thoughts. … Some Democrats are now pushing for him to drop out of the race.”

Politico reported, “Democrats are so panicked over President Joe Biden’s faltering debate performance some are actively discussing what was once unspeakable: replacing him on the ticket.”

Cruz weighed on in his podcast Thursday night on who he thought would replace Biden, saying, “The odds have now skyrocketed. The odds are north of 80% that the Democratic Party will remove Joe Biden from the ticket and replace him … with Michelle Obama because Biden did so disastrously badly tonight that Democrats across the country are in utter freefall and complete panic.”

In September 2023, Cruz first predicted on his podcast that Michelle Obama would be picked by the “Democratic kingmakers” to replace Biden on the presidential ticket.

Early in the debate, Biden appeared to be disoriented and lose his train of thought. After one Biden response, Cruz said, “This is the answer at which I think people all over the country said, ‘Oh this guy’s just not there.’”

Biden said his administration was “making sure that we continue to strengthen our healthcare system, making sure that we’re able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I’ve been able to do with … the with the … COVID … excuse me … with dealing with everything we have to do with … if … we … Look, we finally beat Medicare.” The question had nothing to do with Medicare.

Other apparent incoherent answers caused a “great many Democrats who are looking at this saying, ‘we cannot nominate this man. He is not capable. He doesn’t know what’s going on,’” Cruz said.

Cruz made a similar comment Patrick’s, saying the split screen showed “Biden looked totally lost.” As Trump spoke, Biden looked around, appearing to be confused.

“His brain was frozen. It short circuited. Joe Biden did badly when he wasn’t talking. When he wasn’t talking the look on his face was a look of confusion,” Cruz said. “Listen, anyone who’s ever dealt with an elderly parent, an elderly grandparent who’s dealing with the loss of their faculties knows that.” He spoke about his grandmother who suffered from Alzheimer’s, saying, “I’ve seen what happens. It was clear he didn’t know what was going on.”

Cruz said Michelle Obama was the obvious choice “because she was First Lady and has the ability to kind of parachute in above all” of the potential replacements. “This is the Obamas saving the day. In terms of a solution, that unifies Democrats.”

He also said he didn’t think she was “all that eager to run for president, but to parachute in in August of 2024 a couple of months before the [election] and suddenly wake up and be president, it’s not a bad gig.”

“Would she do it? I don’t know,” Cruz said, adding that if she did, she’d finish the work of her husband. “I do think Barack Obama is already running the Biden administration. I think he is already the puppet master behind this Biden White House. I don’t think that Joe Biden is the decision maker.”

In The Center Square Voters’ Voice poll earlier this year, a plurality of likely Democratic voters said they’d prefer Michelle Obama as president over any other potential candidate, including Biden, Vce President Kamala Harris, and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Citing all the negative headlines about Biden’s performance, Cruz said, “When I see the media turning on Joe Biden right now, I think the odds of Michelle Obama parachuting in in August of 2024 have risen dramatically. That ought to scare the hell out of anyone who is unhappy about the direction this country is going and doesn’t want us to go even crazier in an even worse direction.”