After President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 White House race and supported Ms. Kamala Harris to run, many prominent Democratic Party figures quickly spoke out in support of Ms. Harris.
However, an important figure - former US President Barack Obama - is "clearly and intentionally absent", according to the New York Times.
The American newspaper explained that Mr. Barack Obama has not yet approved of Ms. Harris. In fact, after President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 US presidential election, in an article shared on Medium, Mr. Obama wrote: "Mr. Joe Biden is one of the most influential presidents in America, At the same time, he is my close friend and partner." Mr. Obama chose Mr. Biden as his running mate in the 2008 US presidential election .
However, Mr. Obama did not mention Ms. Harris in this sharing. Former US President Obama emphasized: "I have special confidence that our party leaders will be able to create a process from which an excellent candidate will emerge."
The New York Times reported that people close to Mr. Obama said he wanted to maintain the position of an objective politician in the face of developments within the Democratic Party and that the former US President had no thought of a replacement candidate. How else to make the decision not to immediately endorse Ms. Harris.
A similar stance was taken by Mr. Obama four years ago when Mr. Biden's aides tried to persuade him to endorse early in the Democratic Party primaries before Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out.
Sources said that Mr. Obama's endorsement too soon could be a political mistake, giving rise to the perception that Ms. Harris's nomination is a "coronation" and not a consensus. This is the best choice in special contexts.
For his part, former President Barack Obama sees his role as quickly "unifying the party once it has a candidate" - a source close to Mr. Obama said.
However, the New York Times points out, there are still other personal considerations related to Mr. Obama's prudence. A former White House official who regularly discussed with the former president revealed that Mr. Obama wanted July 21 - the day Mr. Biden announced he was leaving the race for the White House - to talk about Mr. Biden, to honor his achievements. of the current US president. Therefore, former President Obama did not feel pressured to act quickly to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris.
