Tipsheet

Obama Is Not Giving an Endorsement of His Own VP After Launching Campaign

Former Vice President Joe Biden officially launched his 2020 campaign Thursday morning after months of speculation. While he may be at the top of most public opinion polls, he hasn’t gotten an endorsement from the man he served alongside for eight years—former President Barack Obama.

Obama’s spokeswoman Katie Hill offered kind words about Biden but there was no endorsement.

“President Obama has long said that selecting Joe Biden as his running mate in 2008 was one of the best decisions he ever made,” she said. “He relied on the Vice President’s knowledge, insight and judgment, throughout both campaigns and the entire presidency. The two forged a special bond over the last 10 years and remain close today.”

Top Obama adviser David Axelrod cautioned against reading too much into the statement.

“The custom for former presidents is not to endorse presidents. The expectation that he would, I find kind of baffling,” he said, Politico reports. 

RNC Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel said, however, that the lack of an endorsement was a signal he should not be running for a third time.