BARACK AND MICHELLE Obama have endorsed Kamala Harris to be the Democratic presidential nominee.
The US Vice President has already secured the support of a majority of Democratic delegates, with this endorsement setting her on course to become the official nominee at the party convention in August.
In a video shared by Harris’s campaign, the former US president and first lady can be heard on the phone telling Harris that she has their full support.
It means so much to have your endorsements, @MichelleObama and @BarackObama.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 26, 2024
Let’s get to work. pic.twitter.com/rAuTyIlCai
“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,” Barack Obama says.
Harris, who has known the Obamas since before his election in 2008, thanked them for their friendship and said she looks forward to “getting there, being on the road” with them in the three-month blitz before Election Day on 5 November.
In a separate statement, he said: “Earlier this week, Michelle and I called our friend Kamala Harris. We told her we think she’ll make a fantastic President of the United States, and that she has our full support.
At this critical moment for our country, we’re going to do everything we can to make sure she wins in November. We hope you’ll join us.
It comes after he stopped short of endorsing her following Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the election race.
Biden endorsed her within an hour of announcing his decision last Sunday to end his campaign amid widespread concern about the 81-year-old president’s ability to defeat Republican candidate and former US president Donald Trump.
Former House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, House minority whip Jim Clyburn, former president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton followed in the days after.
The Obamas, however, trod carefully as Harris secured the delegate commitments, made the rounds among core Democratic constituencies and raised more than $120 million (€110 million).
Obama’s initial statement after Biden’s announcement did not mention Harris. Instead, he spoke generically about coming up with a nominee to succeed Biden: “I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges,” he wrote.
The Obamas remain prodigious fundraising draws and popular surrogates at large campaign events for Democratic candidates.
They campaigned separately for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020, including large rallies on the closing weekends before Election Day.
With reporting from Press Association
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