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The stories that matter on money and politics in the race for the White House
Barack and Michelle Obama are backing Kamala Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination, all but completing the vice-president’s efforts to unite the party in her newly minted campaign for the White House against Donald Trump.
The former president and first lady revealed their endorsement in a video on Friday that showed them calling Harris by phone together to express their support.
“We called to say Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” Barack Obama said in the video.
Michelle Obama told Harris: “I am proud of you. This is going to be historic.”
The Obamas’ backing is significant because they were among the last remaining senior Democrats yet to rally around Harris in recent days.
President Joe Biden, who served as Barack Obama’s vice-president, threw his own support behind Harris on Sunday when he dropped out of the race.
He renewed his backing for her during an Oval Office address on Wednesday evening.
Bill and Hillary Clinton, the former president and former secretary of state, endorsed Harris shortly afterwards, and the most senior Democrats in Congress, including Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries and Nancy Pelosi, also publicly backed Harris.
The Obamas had remained silent about the Harris campaign until Friday. If they had waited much longer to endorse her, it might have started to cast doubt on their confidence in the vice-president’s campaign. On Thursday, the Trump campaign released a statement claiming that some Democrats, including former president Obama, were “holding out for someone ‘better’”.
In the short video, Harris responds to the endorsement by saying that she looks forward to “doing this with the two of you” and thanks them for their friendship.
The Harris campaign is now vetting running-mates ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month. If she wins November’s election, she would be the first woman in the Oval Office, and the second Black president after Barack Obama, who was first elected in 2008 and won a second term in 2012.
Although Barack Obama had publicly supported Biden immediately after the president’s disastrous debate against Trump in June, he then went quiet.
That silence was seen by many Democrats as suggesting he had lost confidence in the president’s ability to defeat his Republican rival.