The Obamas “Couldn’t Be Prouder” to Endorse Kamala Harris for President

Michelle and Barack Obama have ended a week of speculation about when the former president and First Lady would endorse Vice President Kamala Harris in the shaken-up 2024 race. In a videotaped phone call, the couple tell Harris they are “proud” of her and, as President Obama says, “will do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office.”

Although the call is not dated, in the video Harris appears to be wearing the same Prabal Gurung suit in which she was photographed on Sunday, the day Biden stepped down and she stepped up.

“I am looking forward to doing this with the two of you, Doug and I both. And getting out there, being on the road,” replies Harris, who is shown on the phone, though neither Obama appears in the video. “But most of all, I just wanna tell you that the words you have spoken and the friendship that you have given over all these years mean more than I can express.”

The Obamas had endorsed President Joe Biden initially, though reporting after the debate—including in Vanity Fair—revealed President Obama had privately tried to become “devil’s advocate” in advising Biden through his ultimate choice to drop out of the race. As the replacement of Harris gained breathtaking momentum last weekend, the Obamas were among the last Democratic Party heavyweights not to voice their support. The pair reportedly wanted to wait so as not to appear to “thumb the scale” in a perceived anointment, and Obama wrote on Medium that “I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.”

With Harris having locked up far more than the requisite 1,976 delegates in rapid time, her position as that “outstanding nominee” looks like a foregone conclusion. According to Politico, Obama and Harris have “been in regular touch” over the years, and have spoken multiple times over the chaotic past week.

“It’s time for us to rally around you, your candidacy. This is not on you, it’s not just on you and Doug, it’s on all of us,” Michelle Obama said in press release accompanying the video. “We’ve got to register, we’ve got to vote. So, let’s all roll up our sleeves and make it happen.”