It took six days, but Barack Obama agreed.
On Friday, the long-awaited endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee finally arrived from the former president.
Harris has garnered a string of endorsements since President Joe Biden withdrew from reelection following his poor debate performance, but Obama was the last leading Democrat not to endorse him.
A video of the endorsement released on Friday showed President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama calling Harris to express their support.
“Oh, hi. You two are here together! I’m so glad you both said that,” said Harris, dressed in a beige suit and gold chains.
“I can’t make this call to my love, Kamala, without saying, ‘I’m so proud of you. This is going to be historic,'” the former first lady said.
Sixteen years ago, the Obamas made history when Barack Obama became the first person of color elected president of the United States.
If elected, Harris, who is Black and Asian Indian, would be the first woman to win the White House.
“Michelle and I called to let you know we couldn’t be more proud to support you and that we’ll do everything in our power to help you win this election and get into the Oval Office,” Barack Obama said.
After Biden withdrew, Harris quickly secured delegates from the Democratic National Committee and became the Democrats’ presumptive nominee, uniting the party’s mainstream.
President Obama stood by while the party prepared a new nominating process but praised Biden for stepping down.
“Joe Biden has stayed true to those words time and time again throughout his life of service to the American people,” Obama said on social media site X after his speech Wednesday night.
As of Wednesday, Harris had raised $126 million for her campaign, according to her campaign.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswami is White House correspondent for USA Today. You can follow her on X (old Twitter) @SwapnaVenugopal.
