Despite Vice President Kamala Harris now formally being the Democratic presidential nominee, there remains some talk of how former first lady Michelle Obama would have been a more "formidable" opponent against the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump.

That includes Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who recently suggested that a constitutionally ineligible team of former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle would have had "very high" odds of defeating Trump in November, according to Newsweek.

Of course, the former two-term Democratic president is barred from holding the highest office again by the 22nd Amendment while the former first lady has made it clear that she has no desire to run for the presidency.

"Thank God for the 22nd Amendment"

On a recent episode of his "Verdict" podcast, after the Obamas delivered speeches in support of VP Harris at the Democratic National Convention, Sen. Cruz remarked upon the greater potential threat the Obamas would have posed than Harris to former President Trump's bid to return to the White House.

The senator first noted that he stood opposed to former President Obama "on virtually every issue" but observed that he was a "talented communicator" who could win over undecided voters, and added of the constitutional amendment that limits the presidency to just two terms, "Thank God for the 22nd Amendment."

Of the former first lady, whom Cruz had previously predicted might replace President Joe Biden as the party's nominee, he said her "odds of winning would be very, very high" if she faced off against Trump instead of Harris.

"If I were a Democrat, I'd have been all in on Michelle because Michelle would have been an incredibly formidable candidate," Cruz declared, as "She would have been an incredibly dangerous candidate."

However, he added, she did not seek the party's presidential nomination because she "likes to take more than she needs ... she likes to fly in a G5 ... she likes to party with Oprah Winfrey and George Clooney. She lives the life of a movie star and so decided not to [run for office]."

Not Cruz's first prediction about Michelle

It was just about a month and a half ago, after President Biden's disastrous debate performance against former President Trump but before he was ousted as the presumptive nominee by internal Democratic machinations, that The Hill reported that Sen. Cruz had reiterated his long-running prediction that Michelle Obama was likely the greatest threat against Trump's re-election bid.

"I put the odds at about 80 percent [Democrats] dump [Biden], and if and when they dump him, I think their replacement nominee will be one of two people -- it will either be Michelle Obama or it will be Kamala Harris," Cruz said in a Fox Business interview in mid-July.

"Listen, they’ve all known for six months, for a year, for longer, that Biden’s mental capacity was severely diminished, that he was not up to doing the job," he continued. "But they’re not worried about having a commander in chief who’s not capable of fulfilling the responsibilities, the only reason they’re panicking is because now they realize the American people have seen that, and they’re terrified he’s going to lose in November and so now, they’re willing to dump him."

The Hill noted that while there had been some speculative polling that showed Obama with a hypothetical lead over Trump, the former first lady has been emphatic that she has no plans to seek the presidency and her oft-rumored candidacy in replacement of Biden never materialized.

Harris marginally ahead in the polls

Thus, as the race stands now, RealClearPolling's average of national polls places VP Harris ahead of former President Trump by 1.5 points, though it is notable that Trump holds thin leads over Harris in five of the seven critical battleground states that often decide things in the Electoral College.

Interestingly enough, in a five-way race that includes Trump and Harris plus Green Party candidate Jill Stein, independent leftist Cornel West, and independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Harris leads Trump by 2 points -- yet, Kennedy effectively ended his campaign on Friday and endorsed Trump, and presumably the bulk of his estimated 5% support would transfer to the former president and place him ahead of the Democratic nominee.