Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama have endorsed Kamala Harris in her White House bid.
Their support gives the vice president the expected but still crucial backing of the nation’s two most popular Democrats.
The Obamas announced their endorsement on Friday morning, in a video showing Harris accepting a joint phone call from the former first couple.
“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 tells Harris, who is shown taking the call as she walks backstage at an event, in the video.
Michelle Obama adds: “I can’t have this phone call without saying to my girl, Kamala, I am proud of you. This is going to be historic.”
Harris thanked the Obamas on X, writing: “It means so much to have your endorsements, @MichelleObama and @BarackObama. Let’s get to work.”
Their support comes as Harris continues to build momentum as the party’s likely nominee after President Joe Biden’s decision to end his reelection bid and endorse his second-in-command against Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump.It also highlights the friendship and potentially historic link between the nation’s first Black president and the first woman, first Black woman and first person of Asian descent to serve as vice president, who is now vying to break those same barriers at the presidential rank.
In the video Harris, who has known the Obamas since before Mr Obama’s 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 November 5.
The Obamas are perhaps the last major party figures to endorse Harris formally.
According to an Associated Press survey, she has already secured the public support of a majority of delegates to the Democratic National Convention, which begins in Chicago on August 19.
The Democratic National Committee expects to hold a virtual nominating vote that would, by August 7, make Harris and a yet-to-be-named running mate the official Democratic ticket.
Incumbent president Joe Biden, 81, endorsed Ms Harris within an hour of announcing his decision last Sunday to end his campaign amid widespread concern about his ability to defeat Trump.
Former House 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.
Barack Obama’s initial statement after Mr Biden’s announcement did not mention Harris. Instead, he spoke generically about coming up with a nominee to succeed Mr Biden: “I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges,” the former president wrote.
