Former US President Barack Obama supported fellow Democrat Kamala Harris’ presidential run on Friday, providing a significant boost to her campaign to defeat Donald Trump in November’s presidential election.
“Earlier this week, Michelle and I called our friend Kamala Harris.” We told her that we believe she would be an excellent President of the United States and that she has our whole support," Obama stated on social networking platform X.
"At this vital time for our country, we will do everything we can to ensure she wins in November. “We hope you will join us.”
The influential former leader was one of the last Democratic heavy hitters to endorse Harris, who had already received President Joe Biden’s support on Sunday to replace him on the ballot.
Obama’s endorsement will bolster Harris’ campaign, which has seen a surge of support since she declared her 11th-hour candidacy.
Harris, 59, entered the race after weeks of controversy surrounding 81-year-old Biden, who bowed out after a poor debate performance against Trump fueled doubts about his mental ability and stubbornly low polling numbers.
The country’s first female vice president, who hopes to make history again in November, delivered a stinging attack on Trump and his “extreme” Republicans as she addressed teachers Thursday.
The momentum appeared to catch Trump off guard, as the flamboyant Republican refused to schedule a debate with Harris, stating Thursday night that it would be “inappropriate” until she was formally named the Democratic nominee.
“Democrats may yet change their minds,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.
Harris, a former top prosecutor in California, chastised her opponent on X, asking, “What happened to ‘any time, any place?’”
She had previously stated, about a possible September 10 confrontation, "I’m prepared. So let us go.
Union endorsement.
The American Federation of Teachers, the first organization to support Harris, applauded at their convention in Houston as Harris warned that Trump’s Republicans were launching a “full-fledged attack” on “hard-won, hard-fought freedoms.”
“While you teach pupils about democracy and representative governance, extremists undermine the fundamental right to vote. While you work to establish secure and inviting environments in which our children can study, radicals attack our right to live free of gun violence,” she remarked.
The address came as Harris faced more severe rhetoric from Trump, who on Wednesday referred to her as a “radical left lunatic” and wrongly claimed that she supported the “execution” of newborns.
Trump, the oldest presidential nominee in US history at 78, has threatened not to donate “a single penny” of government cash to schools with vaccine mandates. Such mandates apply to all public schools in America.