Former President Obama's Silence On Kamala Harris Is Deafening
Kamala Harris might become the 47th president of the United States, but the 44th hasn't pledged his support for the likely Democratic nominee. Journalists and politicians have been wondering what to make of this historic snub.
Transcript
00:00Kamala Harris might become the 47th president of the United States, but the 44th hasn't
00:05pledged to support for the likely Democratic nominee. Journalists and politicians have
00:10been wondering what to make of this historic snub.
00:14President Joe Biden made an unprecedented decision on July 21, 2024. He dropped out
00:18of his re-election campaign. A handful of other presidents have refused a second elected
00:23term, but the last to do so was Lyndon B. Johnson, all the way back in 1968. Something
00:28like this has never happened so close to the election before, as Biden made his announcement
00:33less than four months before polls close on November 5th. With the Democratic National
00:37Convention taking place in mid-August, the party has to lock in a choice — and fast.
00:43Just minutes after telling the world that he would not seek re-election, Biden endorsed
00:47his vice president Kamala Harris to be the Democratic Party's presidential nominee in
00:51his place. The decision was praised by many Democrats, who also pledged their support
00:55for the former senator.
00:57I'm watching you, kid. I love you."
01:02However, another Democratic power player has been less enthusiastic about the choice — former
01:06President Barack Obama. In his first statement since the announcement, Obama didn't mention
01:11Harris at all. Instead, he wrote, in part,
01:13"'We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead, but I have extraordinary confidence
01:18that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding
01:23nominee emerges.'"
01:24Obama's silence has drawn attention from plenty of pundits. Stephen Nelson, a Washington
01:29correspondent for The New York Post, speculated that as a respected leader among Democrats,
01:34Obama could hurt Harris' presidential ambitions. As he wrote,
01:37"'His' lack of an endorsement of Harris could damage her candidacy and implicitly encourage
01:42new candidates to emerge."
01:44However, those in Obama's inner circle don't seem to think that he's trying to tip the
01:48scales in any major way. According to The Seattle Times, people close to Obama said
01:52not to read too much into it, and had no alternate candidate in mind when he made the
01:56decision not to immediately endorse Harris. On social media, some highlighted Obama's
02:01decision to not name Harris in his statement, instead using the word nominee. The 44th president
02:07wrote,
02:08"'For Joe Biden to look at the political landscape and decide that he should pass the torch to
02:11a new nominee is surely one of the toughest in his life.'"
02:15Others have suggested that Obama made a strategic choice to hold out, so he could swoop in with
02:19his endorsement if there ended up being a contested convention. A source familiar with
02:23Obama's thinking told MSNBC similarly, saying,
02:26"'Just like he did in 2020 once Joe Biden earned the nomination, President Obama believes
02:31he will be uniquely positioned to help unite the party once we have a nominee, lift up
02:36that candidate and do everything he can to get that candidate elected in November.'"
02:40The source noted that though Obama said supportive things about Biden during his 2020 presidential
02:45campaign, he didn't officially endorse him until after Senator Bernie Sanders dropped
02:50out of the race. In a piece for The New York Times, journalist and former White House correspondent
02:54Glenn Thrush revealed,
02:56"'Mr. Biden is a deeply prideful man, and he has never fully forgiven Mr. Obama for
03:00quietly backing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 campaign.'"
03:06"'Vote and get your friends to vote. Get Uncle Joe to vote.'"
03:12According to The Reporter, a former White House official who speaks with Obama regularly
03:15said that the former president wanted a spotlight to be on the current president, saying,
03:19"'Mr. Obama wanted Sunday to be about Mr. Biden, a celebration of his accomplishments,
03:24and does not feel pressured to act hastily.'"
03:26In the wake of Biden's announcement, Harris has so far received the support of Bill and
03:30Hillary Clinton, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Representative Jim Clyburn, California Governor
03:35Gavin Newsom, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and others. But as Politico noted,
03:41some Democrats competing in races in battleground states across the country have remained quiet
03:45on the issue. The outlet concluded,
03:47"...one group clearly unwilling to immediately signal support for Harris are the nearly 30
03:52Democratic candidates designated as top-tier challengers by the Democratic Congressional
03:56Campaign Committee."
03:57A House Democrat incumbent told the outlet that voter sentiment about Harris isn't great,
04:02pointing out,
04:03"...in the primary four years ago, she didn't last very long."
04:06That said, it doesn't seem like there will be a contested convention after all. Less
04:10than 48 hours after Harris became a presidential contender once again, a survey from the Associated
04:15Press revealed that she had the support of enough delegates needed to secure the nomination.
04:20Whether or not Obama and the battleground Democrats endorse her in the near future,
04:24it looks like Harris will be the next Democratic nominee for President of the United States.