Democrats’ factional warfare behind Obama’s failure to endorse Kamala Harris, experts say

Former president Barack Obama’s failure to endorse Joe Biden’s pick of Kamala Harris as his successor points to a long and complex relationship between the two men, experts say.

Former president Barack Obama’s failure to endorse Joe Biden’s pick of Kamala Harris as his successor points to a long and complex relationship between the two men, experts say.

Within hours of President Biden’s announcement that he would not contest this November’s presidential election, senior Democrats including prominent state governors and Bill and Hillary Clinton swung in behind the White House’s choice of the vice president to take his place on the ballot.

However in a nearly 550 word statement, Obama failed to endorse Harris, not mentioning her name once.

Instead, Obama praised Biden as a “consequential president” and a “dear friend”.

But rather than endorse Harris to stand in November, Obama said simply, “we will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead.”

US Vice President Kamala Harris applauds as US President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama in 2022. Obama’s statement supporting Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024. presidential race did not endorse Harris. Picture: AFP

“It is fascinating that the Clintons endorsed Harris but Obama did not,” said Australian-based American political commentator Kosha Gada.

”The big picture is that there are definitely these factions in the Democratic Party, and internal machinations between the Obamas, the Clintons, as well as Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi are now bubbling up.”

“But the Bidens and the Obamas have never quite gotten along,” she said.”

Behind the scenes, Obama is understood to have been one of the key figures behind a co-ordinated political and media campaign to pressure Biden to exit the race.

Two weeks ago Joe Scarborough, a former congressman who now hosts the Morning Joe program on MSNBC, said that Obama was “working behind the scenes” to undermine Biden in the wake of his disastrous debate performance last month.

Among other things, Scarborough suggested that Obama was behind actor George Clooney’s penning an opinion article in the New York Times saying it was time for Biden to step aside because of his age and apparent cognitive difficulties.

It has been suggested Obama (left, pictured with Biden in 2016) was behind actor George Clooney’s New York Times article urging the current president to drop his re-election bid. Photo: Nicholas Kamm / AFP

For all the years Joe Biden was Barack Obama’s vice president, the two appeared to have a warm relationship.

Social media was often flooded with pictures of the two men joshing around, Biden wearing his trademark white polo shirt and aviator sunnies.

In 2017 – in the closing days of the Obama administration – the president awarded his VP the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the US.

And even in 2019, before becoming president himself, Joe Biden’s X account posted a picture of a “friendship bracelet” with the words “Joe” and “Barack” spelled out in beads for something called Best Friends Day.

However behind closed doors, relations between the two men have long been thought to be frostier.

When Obama picked Biden to be his running mate in 2008 the two were not particularly close, and the selection is widely understood to have been a political move to counter concerns about a young Obama’s lack of political experience.

Then- US Democratic presidential candidate Illinois Senator Barack Obama and running mate Joe Biden on the campaign trail in North Carolina in 2008. Picture: Emmanuel Dunand

Cracks further developed in 2016 when Obama seemed to side with Hillary Clinton over his number two, Joe Biden, to run against Donald Trump.

And one famous story reported in 2020 centred around Obama warning a lawmaker about the dangers of a Biden presidency.

“Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to f*ck things up,” Obama reportedly said.

However despite Obama’s lack of endorsement others were positive about the move.

Former ambassador Arthur Sinodinos said President Biden’s decision to step aside was a “potential game changer”.

“Trump still has momentum to win but this gives the democrats the opportunity to reset and reframe the debate,” he said.

“Kamala Harris is the most likely candidate, it’s the easiest transition for the democrats to make.”

Mr Sinodinos said the focus would now be off the President’s age and cognitive abilities and allow for more scrutiny of Donald Trump and his chosen deputy JD Vance.

“This will put more focus on President Trump’s age and the views of his vice president JD Vance,” he said.

Originally published as Democrats’ factional warfare behind Obama’s failure to endorse Kamala Harris, experts say