President Obama To Endorse Hillary Clinton This Week
President Obama will likely endorse Hillary Clinton as early as this week. According to multiple media reports, the president has been “chomping at the bit” to get out on the campaign trail and will likely do so just after Tuesday’s crucial California primary.
According to CNN, President Obama is very close to an endorsement of Hillary Clinton and will likely make it official sometime this week. Obama has, according to reports, been eager to hit the campaign trail and stump for Clinton, inching closer and closer to the former Secretary of State over the past few weeks.
White House officials are reportedly in talks with the Clinton campaign to iron out the details of the forthcoming endorsement. CNN speculates that the endorsement will likely come after tomorrow night’s California primary, in which Clinton is expected to clinch the Democratic nomination.
According to White House officials, Obama will likely make a low-key Clinton endorsement this week without any major campaign appearances until the following weeks. At which time, however, Obama is expected to become a strong advocate for Clinton, hitting the campaign trail with major rallies and appearances to shore up the support of the Democratic base and repair some of the damage done by the divisive Democratic primary.
President Obama could endorse Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary as early as this week https://t.co/XHFBNMTraG
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 6, 2016
Senator Bernie Sanders has vowed, however, to continue his campaign until the Democratic convention this summer regardless of the results of Tuesday’s crucial California primary. The divide between Sanders supporters and Clinton supporters has been an obstacle for the Democratic Party, but after the California primary on Tuesday, a large-scale unity event featuring Obama, Clinton, and Sanders could help heal the divide between Clinton and Sanders supporters.
According to President Obama, the California primary will make it clear once and for all who the Democratic nominee is, even if Sanders intends to continue the fight into July’s Democratic National Convention.
“I think we’ll probably have a good sense next week of who the nominee will end up being,” Obama said during a speech in Indiana last week.
Hillary Clinton is just 23 delegates shy of the 2,383 necessary to win the Democratic nomination outright, and between the six states holding primary races on Tuesday, it’s likely she’ll come away with at least that many, clinching the nomination. Senator Bernie Sanders, however, reiterated during a press conference today that no matter the outcome of tomorrow’s primary races, the Sanders campaign will continue to fight until the Democratic National Convention in July.
According to Reuters, Clinton and Sanders are in a virtual dead heat in the California polls, and while Clinton will likely sew up the nomination tomorrow, a loss to Sanders in California could signal to Sanders supporters that a strong showing at the Democratic National Convention could turn the tables on Clinton.
AP: @HillaryClinton just 23 delegates away from nomination https://t.co/tJbN3PBhyS | AP Photo pic.twitter.com/LCLpNEICxz
— POLITICO (@politico) June 6, 2016
The forthcoming Obama endorsement could be just what the Clinton campaign needs to shore up support within the Democratic Party. After the fractious fight against Senator Bernie Sanders, which has left both candidates battered and bruised – so to speak – an Obama endorsement for Clinton could keep Sanders from derailing her campaign at the July Democratic Convention in Philadelphia.
Clinton supporters have been unapologetic in asking for Bernie Sanders to step aside for her campaign.
“I think at the bare minimum what he can do is not try to delegitimize the process or call into question that fact that Hillary Clinton is truly the nominee after Tuesday,” said Brian Fallon, Clinton’s press secretary.
According to the New York Times, even some of Sanders’ campaign supporters have come around to the idea that Sanders could very well concede the race after Tuesday, citing an elegiac tone surrounding some of the Sanders rallies.
“It’s like a farewell tour,” said one Bernie Sanders supporter.
[Photo by T.J. Kirkpatrick-Pool/Getty Images]
