Former President Obama's Silence On Kamala Harris Has Everyone's Attention

President Joe Biden made an unprecedented decision on July 21, 2024: He dropped out of his reelection campaign. A handful of other presidents have refused a second elected term — the last was Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968. But never so close to an election — less than four months away. In a post separate from his initial announcement, Biden endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, to be the Democratic Party's presidential nominee in his place. The decision was praised by many Democrats, but one in particular has been silent on the choice: former president Barack Obama.

In his first statement since the announcement, Obama didn't mention Harris at all. "We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead," he said. "But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges." And his silence has drawn a lot of attention. Here's what people are saying.

Steven Nelson, a Washington correspondent for the New York Post, speculated that the silence of Barack Obama — as a respected leader among Democrats — could hurt Kamala Harris. "His lack of an endorsement of Harris could damage her candidacy and implicitly encourage new candidates to emerge," Nelson wrote. But according to The Seattle Times, those in Obama's inner circle said "not to read too much into it" and claimed the politician doesn't have anyone in particular in mind for the nomination.

On social media, some highlighted Obama's decision to not name Harris in his statement, instead using the word "nominee." "For [Joe Biden] to look at the political landscape and decide that he should pass the torch to a new nominee is surely one of the toughest in his life," the former president wrote. Others suggested his choice was a strategy — in the case of a contested nomination, he could use his clout to then push Harris. A source familiar with Obama's thinking told MSNBC similar. "Just like he did in 2020 once Joe Biden earned the nomination, president Obama believes he will be uniquely positioned to help unite the party once we have a nominee, lift up that candidate, and do everything he can to get that candidate elected in November," they said. The source noted that though Obama said "supportive things" about Biden during his 2020 presidential campaign, he didn't officially endorse him until after Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race.

In a piece for The New York Times, journalist and former White House correspondent Glenn Thrush said Biden is a "deeply prideful man" who hasn't forgiven Barack Obama for backing Hillary Clinton over him in 2016. According to the reporter, a former White House official who speaks with the former president regularly said he wanted to center the moment around Biden. "Mr. Obama wanted Sunday to be about Mr. Biden, a celebration of his accomplishments — and does not feel pressured to act hastily," they said.

As of this writing, Harris has received the support of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Representative Jim Clyburn, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. But as Politico noted, some Democrats in battleground states have remained "conspicuously silent." "One group clearly unwilling to immediately signal support for Harris ...[are] the nearly 30 Democratic candidates designated as top-tier challengers by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee," the outlet concluded after a review of these contenders. A House Democrat incumbent told the outlet that voter sentiment about Harris is "not good." "In the primary four years ago, she didn't last very long," they said. Time will tell whether this purported perspective shifts.