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Barack and Michelle Obama are backing Kamala Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination, all but sealing the vice-president’s effort to unite the party behind her White House campaign 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.”
In a statement, the Obamas added: “She has the vision, the character, and the strength that this critical moment demands. There is no doubt in our mind that Kamala Harris has exactly what it takes to win this election and deliver for the American people.”
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 — a conspicuous delay that had threatened 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 responded to the endorsement by saying that she looked forward to “doing this with the two of you” and thanked 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.
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