Former US president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle endorsed Kamala Harris’s bid for president on Friday in a roughly one-minute long video that captured a private phone call between the couple and the current vice president.
Mr Obama had conspicuously withheld his endorsement in the immediate aftermath of Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the campaign, and was initially believed to favour an open nominating contest at next month’s Democratic national convention in Chicago.
But after Ms Harris earned the backing of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, a host of state governors and the most senior Democrats in Congress – as well as Mr Biden himself – Mr Obama has added his voice in what amounts to a major boost for the vice-president.
“I can’t have this phone call without saying to my girl Kamala: I am proud of you,” Michelle Obama says. “This is going to be historic.”
“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,” Mr Obama told Harris.
Talking into a cell phone and cracking a few smiles, Ms Harris expressed her gratitude for the endorsement and their long friendship.
“Thank you both. It means so much. And we’re gonna have some fun with this too,” Ms Harris said.
The campaign said the video was the actual call, not a re-enactment.
Ms Harris’s surprise bid against Republican rival Donald Trump continues to gain steam from supporters, donors and politicians less than a week after President Joe Biden bowed out of the race amid slumping poll numbers.
Ms Obama, the first US black president, remains one of the most popular figures in the Democratic party even after more than a decade has passed since he was last elected.
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Mr Obama has lent his support to Mr Biden during big-money fundraisers, which were among some of the biggest blockbuster events of his campaign.
The endorsement could help activate and sustain energy and fundraising for Harris’s campaign and it signals he is likely to get on the campaign trail for Ms Harris once she is officially the presumptive nominee.
America’s first female president? All eyes on Kamala Harris
Mr Obama initially withheld his endorsement even as Mr Biden, his former vice president, anointed her as his heir apparent. Mr Obama reportedly did not want to “put his thumb on the scale” as the party worked through the process of determining its nominee.
Ms Harris has narrowed the gap with Mr Trump in opinion polls, trailing him 48 per cent to 47 per cent among likely voters in a New York Times/ Siena College survey. Mr Trump was leading Mr Biden by six percentage points in this poll after their debate. - Reuters and The Guardian
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