Barack & Michelle Obama endorsed VP Kamala Harris in a call on Wednesday

VP Kamala Harris inherited President Biden’s campaign apparatus, but I’m still so impressed by how quickly and flawlessly she and her presidential campaign have hit the ground running. She’s still doing the work as the vice president, but she immediately kicked into high gear as the candidate and presumptive nominee. On Thursday, VP Harris released her first television ad, which is amazing. Then on Friday, her campaign released a video endorsement from Barack and Michelle Obama. Just five days ago, Barack Obama was endorsing a half-assed mini-primary and open convention. Just last week, he was sitting back and not pitching in to soothe jumpy Democratic donors and he was also not offering counsel or support to President Biden. There’s been some quiet backlash to Barack Obama’s moves, that’s all I’ll say. But the Harris campaign put a f–king bow on it and they must have said “no thanks” to another f–king Medium essay. The campaign was like “nah, we need to do some kind of video.”

Because I love a process story, I would absolutely love to know how this was negotiated, because we don’t even see the Obamas on camera. I want to know what the Harris campaign people said and what the Obamas’ original pitch was. I swear, it probably was another f–king Medium essay. In any case, the Harris campaign said that this call happened on Wednesday, while Harris was in Indianapolis. The big endorsement:

“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.

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.”

[From The New York Times]

All of the Obama people swore up and down that he would never, ever endorse Kamala Harris before the convention, that his public reticence towards VP Harris was standard operating procedure. What changed? Was it the days and weeks of criticism? It feels like it. It also feels like the Clintons were getting such high marks for being good and loyal Democrats, and people really appreciated Hillary Clinton’s full-throated support for Harris right out of the gate. Anyway, I’m glad the Obamas made the endorsement and let’s keep it moving. We’re not going back.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

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74 Responses to “Barack & Michelle Obama endorsed VP Kamala Harris in a call on Wednesday”

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  1. Proud Mary says:

    I really wish people would stop trying to create drama where there is none. He’s endorsed her. If you believed that this was not going to happen, then the problem is you. Let’s move on and focus on winning. Please.

    • Selene says:

      I agree. People had their own timelines, as if they knew what was going on behind the scenes. They reminded me a bit of the royal rota, tbh! The speculation, the putting words in people’s mouths, trying to make decisions for other people… whew!

      • Pinkosaurus says:

        Yeah, no. I don’t know if it we are being undated with bots or what, but Obama is taking well-earned criticism for going after Biden and openly and publicly pushing him out and then staying silent on VP Harris. This whole “it was my plan all along” is not working. Hilary Clinton was deservedly loyal to Biden, and when he decided to step back, was immediate full-throatedly in support of Harris. Obama clearly was working for some other outcome and his divisive tactics could have severely weakened the democratic candidate just a few months before the election, if he hadn’t been completely outfoxed by Biden. 🌴 🥥

    • ML says:

      Yes, this! Of course the Obamas were going to endorse her. This is them holding the door open for others and quietly shutting it behind them after the others have walked through.

    • North of Boston says:

      Totally agree!

      They endorsed VP Harris, 4-5 days after Pres Biden announce he was ending his campaign and the day after he gave his evening address about it.

      The timing of that is fine. Now let’s move forward, not stirring up drama where there is none and focus on winning.

      Harris for President and Blue up and down the ballot!

    • Becks1 says:

      oh I always thought he was going to endorse her, there was no way he wouldn’t. I just didn’t want him to wait until the convention.

    • Plums says:

      yeah, this was always the plan, to draw out the news cycle and keep the hype up, and the murdoch press machine sowing doubt about the Obamas being on board because they didn’t officially endorse straight out the gate was always conservative spin. I don’t understand how this wasn’t obvious.

    • Cheshire Sass says:

      100% agree, I don’t get why people have attacked with such vitriol. I said yesterday, there must be a reason, and what ever it is he is always, measured and on point.

    • Mario says:

      Right. I am not a fan of penalizing people for taking different amounts of time to get to the right place, as long as they get there in a reasonably timely manner and didn’t do harm along the way.

      He had his reasons for not endorsing right away and I am not going to assume a negative intention, especially not from two people who have done (and continue to do) so much good for our country.

      And let’s not be crazy. He’s days later, not months later, and the very real benefit, as many have pointed out, is the Obama endorsement is now THE headline, getting spotlight attention, and tying the whole endeavor up with a bow, dropping all the final pieces into place vs. simply being one of dozens of big endorsements on a single day. This makes it NEWS and feels like the last piece of a fait accompli, and that’s good for her.

      So alls well that ends well… let’s go get Kamala Harris elected.

    • Wow says:

      I couldn’t agree with you more, Proud Mary. The continuous backlash and down talking about what Obama did or didn’t do on THEIR timeline of how THEY felt he should have done things just seems like it’s probably how they have always felt about him. It’s as if it’s hard for some people to fathom that they don’t know everything that happens or know about every conversation or move every democrat did behind the scenes in that political realm.

      Let’s just get on with it! Let’s get Kamala to Presidency!

    • MichaelaCat says:

      I agree.

      There was too much assuming based on emotions instead of looking at the facts, which is that we had no idea if Harris and Obama were already strategizing and trying to make a big moment out of it.

      Will never understand why some progressive people were trying to make that the big story within just a few days of Biden resigning. All it did was play into the Republicans hand.

      Let’s move forward and focus on defeating the real enemy at the elections from now on, not this made-up drama that just causes infighting.

  2. I guess better late than never…. I don’t think she needed his endorsement but she accepted it with grace.

    • Kokiri says:

      Agreed.
      It feels like he miscalculated & waited too long, missed his chance to fully join this unstoppable movement & is now begrudgingly endorsing.

      Sorry to say but my opinion is that video was cringe & awkward. It rang as insincere & forced & i had such second hand embarrassment for both Obamas it was a struggle to finish it.

      Too little, too late.

      • Solace says:

        @ kokiri

        Agreed!!

        They couldn’t come on camera…that explains it all.
        I’ll put a bow on it when Kamala’s outfit outshines Michelle’s at the inauguration. She was done dirty at her vp ceremony.

        Bye M&O…I found you boring and overhyped. The first few pages of Becoming are sad and I abandoned the book.
        Time for the real power to be in spotlight.
        No need to @ me ladies…idc 🙂
        No one is without criticism.

      • Caribbean says:

        How would it look if he called for President Biden to stepped down and then immediately endorsed Kamala (a black woman- the color is important in this context), for President? They would call him a traitor for st…bing P Joe in the Back, regardless of all the others who called for P Joe to step down and then endorsed Kamala; it would be ALL Obama’s fault. There was no other way for Obama.

      • Walking the Walk says:

        Yep.

      • well says:

        It is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose. To me the timing seemed as though they waited for the initial wave of excitement to die down, and to give just enough sunlight for MAGA to try to seize on the lack of endorsement. They then dropped their endorsement, which also happened to occur immediately after Biden’s address on his candidacy, and so it both served as a fitting bookend to his statement and to immediately render null and void all the MAGA talking points that attempted to crop up over the endorsement.

        Also, honestly, there is no endorsement in the democratic universe that carries near the level of weight as the Obama one, so it makes sense for them to make sure it has its own moment in the press for full effect. That wouldn’t have happened if it dropped immediately after Biden’s and in the midst of other top name endorsements from Pelosi, etc.

  3. Jayne says:

    Too late! Glad that VPOTUS proved she didn’t need them out of the gate. I’m looking at them in an entirely different light now.

    • vs says:

      I understand where you are coming from …. It is great that madam VP proved that she didn’t need this endorsement from the start; President Obama usually only endorses the nominee, it is now clear that madam VP will be so he did. Anyway, let’s focus on winning! President Obama needs to go on the campaign trail; he remains one of the most effective communicators of the Democratic Party

    • equality says:

      Maybe that is the point. Any candidate needs to be able to stand on their own. The endorsement should just be for an additional push.

    • Walking the Walk says:

      Thank you. Also I beg of the white women commenters again here to quit crapping on Black women and men who called out Obama for this. You are not winning yourselves any favors. We all know what happened! And I am glad VP Harris did it this way. Honestly most people don’t want to see him right now and it would have been nothing but negative remarks on whatever essay he released. Whether you like it or not he was part of the push to get rid of Biden and Harris.

      Vote Blue up and down the line in November and then primary everyone. FYI, Tester still hasn’t given his endorsement and 6 Democrats voted for Harris to get censured or some mess regarding her role as border czar. FYI, she’s not freaking border czar.

      • Brassy Rebel says:

        The “border czar” thing is a right wing talking point. She never had anything to do with border security which is what they try to imply. She traveled to Central America to see what could be done to assist people in their own countries instead of migrating. And migration from those specific countries is down now.

    • girl_ninja says:

      Clearly it means something to V.P. Harris and it doesn’t seem as though SHE thought it was too late. Make sure you vote blue.

  4. girl_ninja says:

    I love and respect the Obama’s so much and it is clear that VP/Future President Harris does as well. I love the respect they have for each other and I’m looking forward to seeing them on the campaign trail together. I hope folks we the example of love and respect displayed and follow it.

    What a spectacular foursome in the Harris-Emhoff and the Obama’s.

    Let’s get this done.

    • ML says:

      Girl Ninja, your advice about listening to people’s fears, and emphasizing the medications was really helpful! Two more very likely voters for 🪷KH!

      • girl_ninja says:

        That’s awesome! This is what we’ll have to do to get people to the polls to vote for future President Harris. Good for you ML, well done!

  5. ML says:

    “… people really appreciated Hillary Clinton’s full-throated support for Harris right out of the gate. Anyway, I’m glad the Obamas made the endorsement and let’s keep it moving.” A resounding yes to this!

    The phone call: My kids make fun of me because I call many of my friends and relatives without a video connection. This will resonate with young people’s experience of beloved older people in their lives. Plus, the audio call is captured in a video!

  6. sevenblue says:

    You know what, with Biden, it seemed like Obamas’ endorsement was important. But, with Kamala and the atmosphere she created with her speeches, it feels like she can do it alone. It is nice she is getting support from Clintons, Obamas, but she is killing it herself. We didn’t see much of her work as VP, since it is traditional that VP gets a back seat and doesn’t get much press attention. It is obvious she spent 3 years as VP improving her public speaking. She is doing it unapologetically and that makes her win the public support. She brought the hope back and you can see the Reps are scared.

    • Kokiri says:

      Kamala needed to improve her public speaking?

      That IS news. Anytime I watched her speak or in the Senate, she was simply amazing.
      Not even to mention “I’m speaking”.

      She’s a phenom. There’s no stopping this.

      • sevenblue says:

        @Kokiri, I agree with her speeches during hearings or while questioning Trump lackeys. But, she wasn’t that good during Democratic debates. I felt like she was trying not to come across as aggressive, probably got told by advisors. She was one of the first ones cancelling her primary campaign because she couldn’t get enough donations. She is not like that now, she is trusting her instincts while on the stage and not holding back. Even while debating Pence, she held back. The current Kamala would crush Pence in the VP debate.

    • Berkeleyfarm says:

      I think it’s not so much her speaking but her campaigning.

  7. Hypocrisy says:

    Now we are waiting for Taylor.. I loved the way this endorsement was announced, every one with a platform needs to be in this the GOP/Heritage Foundations America is terrifying and dangerous. Every endorsement counts..

    • Kokiri says:

      Taylor who, & why are we waiting for them?

      • cabooklover says:

        Do they mean Taylor Swift???? 👀

      • ML says:

        Because of “Childless cat ladies for Harris.” (JD Vance called VP Harris that back in 2021.)
        Whatever your opinion on TS, her political stance has been helpful, Agent Orange is scared of her, and she motivates TONS of “cat ladies.”

      • Kokiri says:

        I have this feeling that average people are very much over “celebrity” endorsements.

        As the Harris campaign proved, millions in grassroots support came in record numbers.

        Celebrities are not the be all, not anymore. I believe people see through their “support”: no matter what happens, they’ll be ok with the results. Financially, most of all.

        It’s well past time to stop equating celebrity with good intentions, & to focus on the people on the ground that have been doing the work for years.

        If these past weeks have taught us anything, it should be that too many celebrities will turn on a dime to get what they want, & they have the money to do it. You cannot count on them. George, I’m looking at you.

    • sevenblue says:

      Something like a 130,000 white women attended a Zoom call and raised millions. Don’t wait on other people, Kamala has the public support.

      • Hypocrisy says:

        I’m not waiting on anyone but I do think everyone should endorse and support her not going to apologize for that. I was on that zoom last night, it was my second zoom to support her in a matter of days, I have also made my donation and have my call list. Enjoy your weekend.

      • sevenblue says:

        @Hypocrisy, not directed at you, but I have been seeing a lot of discussions about when X or Y famous person is gonna endorse her. I mean, it would be cool if they did, but Kamala don’t need them, she is crushing it with the public. Even Swifties aren’t waiting on TS, they are organizing themselves for Kamala, which is good.

  8. Fuzzy Crocodile says:

    I thought they waited so they could have another news cycle about it as it would come just as some headlines were falling off.

    • girl_ninja says:

      That’s what I’ve been saying. Stagger the endorsements of all of the leaders to help (not that she needs it) keep her name in the news cycle. It seems that some folks let their anxiety get the better of them.

    • lucy2 says:

      I was thinking the same thing. Obviously they were going to endorse her, but I figuring it was timed to have the most impact, when excitement faded, or after the convention. It hasn’t faded but increased, and I’m wondering if they saw some of the criticism or questioning about them, and said forget it, let’s go now.
      Whatever the situation, I’m glad they did it, we need all hands on deck here. I am hoping they both speak at the convention, especially Michelle.

  9. Jais says:

    It was becoming that even republicans were making into a thing as in why hasn’t Obama endorsed her. And I didn’t like the build up of sources say articles. It was better for it to just be done rather than built up.

    • ML says:

      His endorsement is coming out around the same time former Democrat and Republican DOJ officials are endorsing Kamala Harris. It just after Nikki Haley has gotten into her public litigious snit with her supporters who are now behind VP Harris. And it’s coming as Georgia Republican Geoff Duncan reminding everyone how Trump tried to steal the election there—which ties into VP Harris’ bonafides against criminals. The Obamas are endorsing at the same time various Never Trumpers are, and that helps in a bipartisan way.

  10. Becks1 says:

    So all the insistence that Obama would never ever endorse before the convention or that he would do it in a big splashy way at a campaign appearance was just….not true, lol.

    I’m glad they endorsed this week and I like how they did it. Not another essay is right, LOL. Good for them and good for the Harris campaign.

    Let’s effing GO!!!!!

    • Walking the Walk says:

      Thank you Becks1! I want to see some people realizing that it was a crap notion. He never endorses before the convention….sure. Also why do we need Obama to tell us what we already know to do?

      LFG!

      • OriginalLeigh says:

        We don’t actually know if this was the plan all along. People made such a big deal about the Obamas not immediately endorsing that it was becoming a distraction. Plans do change. Anyway, I’m glad they have endorsed so we can all move on and focus on getting Kamala elected!

    • Nic919 says:

      The timing of this was a miss for them. They let it sit long enough for rumblings to take hold which is unlike Obama. Especially since he was already “blamed” for pushing out Biden. The Clintons were able to shut down the “Hillary will be jealous” stuff right away because of their quick endorsement.

      I thought that once Pelosi and Schumer made their endorsements that the Obama’s would be right there.

      Ultimately it won’t matter if Michelle and Barack do a kick ass stump speech for her, but they didn’t time this one as well as they could have.

  11. SussexWatcher says:

    I’m glad the Obamas finally endorsed. I feel like it’s what I was saying in a previous thread – the longer he waited the less relevant the endorsement became. So I’m glad the Obamas saw the writing on the wall, the millions raised on all those calls, and the rest of the party lining up behind Harris and officially got on board. Now they can start having rallies and fundraisers. LFG!!!

    Also, the format of the endorsement was reminiscent of how Harris was notified by Biden that she was the VP pick – that phone call while she was out for a run. I think that’s part of the reason for doing that video of her taking the phone call. And video – over another Medium piece – is more engaging, relatable, modern, and shareable.

    • Duch says:

      Sussexwatcher – missed your earlier comment but you nailed it. ‘The longer he waited, the less relevance it had.’ And that’s a GOOD thing. She’s not Obama 2.0. And they would have made it look like that if he had endorsed right off the bat IMO.

      . A week ago I couldn’t bear to tskj about the election not it’s all I want to read and discuss. This is going to be fun

      • Duch says:

        Sussexwatcher #2 – you’re so right about the callback to Biden’s call. I knew something resonated but couldn’t put my finger on it. V cool.

      • SussexWatcher says:

        Yes, totally agree it’s a good thing that she was doing incredibly well without his endorsement! I also think (in addition to the relevancy piece) that his continuing to wait could have become a distract by the media who just love to pretend the Dems are in disarray, no matter the reality. So now that talking point is removed.

        And I agree with you about having felt despondent a week ago but beyond excited and more confident now. Yay and let’s fcuking gooooo!

  12. Walking the Walk says:

    Shrug. She was killing it without it and yes as Kaiser said, many people pointed out the Clinton’s loyalty to Biden and to her. I think way too many white people think that Obama can’t be cutthroat or not do the bidding of wealthy donors even though we all have evidence he was helping the push along with Jeffries, Pelosi, Schumer, several Senate candidates (hello Mark Warner who is still in hiding) and House Democrats.

  13. Anne says:

    He did the endorsement on his own timeline. He gave time for Biden and now time for Harris. We don’t know everything that has gone behind the curtains. We don’t know how often Obama has talked to Biden, I’ve read articles about their talks and calls after the fact (sometimes months/years).
    Be happy he did it – everyone can get off Obamas back now.

  14. Chantale says:

    People are making drama about Obama endorsement for no reason. Not only Obama is giving the respect to his former vice president waiting after he announced his withdrawal from the race to endorse, I guess the big event of him endorsing Kamala is out now because social media loves drama. They could not wait for the full effect of the endorsement to come at a probably better precise moment.🙄😏 I am relaying this comment from a friend who is mad.

    • Blithe says:

      Hard agree. I’ve been mad too — even amidst the excitement, momentum, and joy. The idea that people with no idea what has been going on behind the scenes, or even what the overall campaign strategy might be, have been running their mouths against Obama — Because he did not meet their imagined perfect timelines — really rubs me the wrong way. Rubs me the wrong way in the same way that entitled and privileged George Clooney thinking that he deserves to manipulate our political process from his European boltholes rubs me the wrong way.

      It’s been less than a week since Biden announced his decision not to run again, and some people have been champing at the bit for days because Obama — yeah, the first Black president: THAT Obama — wasn’t doing what they wanted him to do, when they wanted him to do it. He didn’t jump with alacrity to meet their expectations or to do their bidding…mach schnell. This, to me, feels SO familiar, somewhat media-driven, and very much: same old, same old.

  15. Amy Bee says:

    He took his time as I said yesterday he probably wanted to rule the news cycle on his own. I’m glad some are waking up to the fact that he was never a good politician and lacked any convictions of his own. The next question is will he and Michelle be at the convention?

    • Kitten says:

      Saying he lacked conviction is a little harsh to me. I do think he struggled with making difficult decisions and waffled a lot. And I think that was more a symptom of who he is as a person in that he overthinks everything. He was always in his head and he got in his own way at times.
      Ultimately, what a lot of people saw as hesitancy was thoughtfulness which I think is both good and bad in a POTUS.

    • OriginalLeigh says:

      He was never a good politician?! This revisionist history is wild. Black men don’t just accidentally win a US Senate seat and two presidential elections. (And of course both Obamas will be at the convention in CHICAGO)..

    • Ameerah M says:

      Yeah – it had NOTHING to do with lacking conviction and everything to do with being the first Black President and how every decision he made was treated differently than had he been white. So yes – it can make someone who is the FIRST very cautious. Sometimes overly cautious. He is also a pretty thoughtful person and is not someone who acts on impulse. Because he couldn’t be.

  16. Ameerah M says:

    He did it when he felt it was appropriate to do so and not on anyone else’s timeline. Because he doesn’t own us anything. He gave 8 years of his life to this country.

    • Brassy Rebel says:

      For me, Ameerah gets the last word. 👍

      • ms says:

        @Ameerah
        @Brassy Rebel

        Totally agree. I have to admit I’m really confused by a lot of these comments. Why all the anger towards the Obamas?

  17. Kitten says:

    Again, it was a strategic decision on his part. He wanted her to gain that groundswell; that grassroots support from voters before he endorsed her because he didn’t want it to appear like a coronation. He saw the danger of the constituency thinking that she was installed and how that could backfire.

    I don’t know whether that was the right decision or not –I’m not that invested in it—but I don’t think it will have any effect on her ability to win in the end. I also have no doubt that miscalculation or not, Obama’s heart was in the right place.

  18. ms says:

    Im slightly confused, why would Obama have been soothing jumpy donors when it was still Biden as the candidate?

    • Ameerah M says:

      Because they had started to pull back on their donations. Biden was losing millions in big donor money before he decided to dropped out of the race.

  19. Agnes says:

    Better late than never, Obamas. Now we can all just focus on electing Lotus for Potus!

  20. Lulu says:

    I think it’s called waiting to see which way the wind blows. Biden led here, make no mistake. I guess that is how it should be, Biden is president, and he should be leading us. Democrats immediately got on board and donations poured in. Obama’s endorsement is important, but he isn’t leading the party in the way he once did.

  21. tamsin says:

    i wonder if Michelle will be campaigning for Kamala and Jill as well. This would be a good time for all good women to come together, as they say. The convention is in Chicago, right? All this renewed energy and people feeling hopeful and the use of social and zooms and grassroots activity suddently reminds me of another time in Democratic politics. This should work out to huge voter turnout. There are specific issues for people to work vote for under the urgent need to save freedoms and democracy banners. Some people can’t see existential threats, but they can see that they need to vote for things that affect their own lives, and I think Kamala is making that really clear. I’ve always been tepid about Kamala, but if I were American, I would be itching to vote for her. She seems like the right person at the right time, just like Obama and Biden were.

    • Agnes says:

      It’s easy to be tepid about someone you never see! I’ll never forget her debate with Mike Pence, and the fly that landed on his white hair, and her facial expressions as she looked at him (and it.) That’s about the last time she was on my radar until Sunday, July 21, when I was panicked about how the dudebro Democrats would try to bypass her candicacy. Now she’s out there roaring! She is ABSOLUTELY the right person at the right time.

  22. Berkeleyfarm says:

    There seems to be genuine warmth in that conversation.

    Honestly I think this whole fuss about Obama was people who are still a little salty for whatever reason or just want to cause drama for clicks. As another commenter noted, it’s like the Royal Rota making shit up for attention. Obamas waited till after Biden did his speech. It’s still … less than a week.