Barack and Michelle Obama Endorse Kamala Harris for President: “This Is Going to Be Historic” (2024)

Barack and Michelle Obama have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president. The former president and former first lady revealed their prized endorsem*nt in a short call with Harris, a video clip of which was released Friday morning across the VP’s social media and posted to her YouTube channel.

In the almost minute-long clip, Harris is seen taking a phone call from the Obamas as she walks and talks.

“Aww, hi, you’re both together. It’s good to hear you both,” Harris says as she picks up the call from Barack proclaiming, “Kamala!” Michelle takes over and says, “I can’t have this phone call without saying to my girl, Kamala, I am proud of you. This is going to be historic.”

Barack takes over to say the words it seems that all of Washington, D.C., and the rest of America have been waiting to hear since President Joe Biden announced he would be stepping aside “in the best interest of my party and my country” last Sunday.

“We called to say, Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” the former president says.

Harris replies, “Michelle, Barack this means so much to me. I’m looking forward to doing this with the two of you, [Doug Emhoff] and I both, and getting out there, being on the road. But most of all, I just want to tell you the words you have spoken and the friendship that you have given over all these years mean more than I can express. So, thank you both, it means so much. And we’re going to have some fun with this, too, aren’t we?”

The sought-after endorsem*nt from the Obamas was the last major seal of approval on the Democratic side for Harris. After Biden’s shock announcement that he was ending his re-election campaign on July 21 and news that he was backing Harris’ run, a deluge of Democratic politicians, donors and media figures quickly coalesced around the vice president.

Just days after her campaign kicked off, Harris racked up endorsem*nts from former President Bill Clinton, 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 23 Democratic governors —including Gretchen Whitmer, Gavin Newsom, Josh Shapiro, Andy Beshear, Tim Walz, Roy Cooper, Tony Evers and J. B. Pritzker —as well as pretty much every Democratic politician in both Houses of Congress.

On July 22, Harris received enough state delegate endorsem*nts to win the nomination and become the presumptive Democratic Party nominee.

In less than a week, Harris has unleashed a wave of enthusiasm on the Democratic side, reminiscent of Barack Obama‘s 2008 run for president, with Zoom calls breaking records with six-digit attendance numbers from Harris supporters.

“Historic” is an appropriate word coming from the Obamas. When President Obama won the 2008 election, he became the first African American to take residency in the White House as the 44th President of the United States. With Biden as his running mate, Barack Obama was re-elected president in 2012 for a second term.

Should Harris defeat Donald Trump in November, she would become the first female President of the United States and the first woman of color to hold the highest office in the land. She already made history when she assumed the post of vp under Biden as the first woman, the first Black American and the first South Asian American to be elected vp. According to her official biography, Harris was born in Oakland, California, as the child of immigrants. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, emigrated from India while her father, Donald Jasper Harris, emigrated from Jamaica.

The Harris campaign has broken a number of fundraising records, and has raised a startling $200 million on the ActBlue platform alone since July 21, primarily through small donors. The New York Times reports that super PACs affiliated with Harris have raised a further $150 million.