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Obama Endorses Harris for the Democratic Nomination

Former President Barack Obama’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris comes as Democratic leaders have united in their support for her candidacy.Credit…Jamie Kelter Davis for The New York Times

Former President Barack Obama endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination on Friday, delivering Ms. Harris perhaps the most important missing piece in what has been a cascade of support from her party’s most influential leaders.

Mr. Obama, who has positioned himself as an impartial party elder and has remained neutral during Democratic primaries since he left office, had held back as endorsements poured in for Ms. Harris from all corners of the party after President Biden’s withdrawal from the race on Sunday.

Ms. Harris’s campaign released a video on Friday of a phone call between Ms. Harris and Mr. Obama and Michelle Obama, the former first lady, that took place on Wednesday while the vice president was in Indianapolis.

“We called to say, Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” Mr. Obama said.

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Ms. Harris replied: “Thank you both! It means so much. And, and we’re going to have some fun with this, too, aren’t we?”

The Obamas issued a statement saying they would “do everything we can to elect Kamala Harris the next president of the United States.” They added, “And we hope you’ll join us.”

The vice president has quickly amassed the support of former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, the party’s 2016 presidential nominee; Democratic leaders; a vast majority of the Democratic caucuses in the House and Senate; and every Democratic governor across the country. By Monday night, she had secured pledges from enough Democratic delegates to become the party’s nominee.

Mr. Obama did not mention Ms. Harris this week in a warm tribute to Mr. Biden that he posted on Medium shortly after the president had announced he would leave the race.

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“Joe Biden has been one of America’s most consequential presidents, as well as a dear friend and partner to me,” wrote Mr. Obama, who chose Mr. Biden as his running mate in 2008.

Republicans interpreted Mr. Obama’s silence about Ms. Harris on Sunday as a snub. But people close to Mr. Obama downplayed its significance and said he had no alternate candidate in mind. They added that an immediate endorsement by Mr. Obama could have fueled criticism that the abrupt falling-in behind Ms. Harris amounted to a coronation, rather than the best possible consensus under rushed circumstances.

In 2020, Mr. Obama similarly resisted pressure from Mr. Biden’s aides to endorse his former vice president early in the Democratic primaries, before Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont had dropped out. Mr. Obama said then that he did not want to “thumb the scale.”

Barack Obama leans over to hug Kamala Harris as they stand in front of ornate gold curtains.
Mr. Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris in 2022. She has long been seen as his ally, speaking at the Democratic National Convention where he was renominated in 2012.Credit…Kenny Holston for The New York Times

One person familiar with Mr. Obama’s thinking said this week that he saw his role as helping to quickly “unite the party once we have a nominee.”

In 2008, Mr. Obama was elected the first Black president of the United States. Ms. Harris, who has broken barriers herself as the first Black woman to serve as California’s attorney general and only the second Black woman ever elected to the Senate, now has the chance to follow his pathbreaking presidency. If elected, she would be the first woman, the first Black woman and the first person of South Asian descent to win the White House.

She has long been seen as Mr. Obama’s ally, speaking at the Democratic National Convention where he was renominated in 2012. –The New York Times

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