In a wide-ranging interview during the Essence Festival on Saturday, former first lady Michelle Obama opened up about the Democratic field and where her family's support will go.
"Barack and I are going to support whoever wins the primary, so ... our primary focus is letting the primary process play out, because it's very early," she said. "I mean, that's one of the things that we learned in the campaign. It is early; it's like trying to figure out who's winning the World Series on the first seven games. I mean that's where we are right now, it is so early."
When asked by moderator Gayle King about the "dust up" between Sen. Kamala Harris and former Vice President Joe Biden during the first Democratic debate over the issue of busing, Obama stayed silent.
“I have been doing this rodeo far too long,” she said. “No comment.”
The former first lady's response to the endorsement issue led Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel to question whether Biden was lying about Obama's support.
So was Joe Biden just completely lying when he claimed he asked Obama not to endorse him?
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) July 7, 2019
https://t.co/K0ZMVf3kB8
After Biden launched his campaign in April, a spokesperson for Obama issued a statement saying that choosing him as vice president was "one of the best decisions" Obama ever made, but there was no endorsement. Biden later told reporters this was because he "asked President Obama not to endorse."
"I asked President Obama not to endorse," he said. "Whoever wins this nomination should win it on their own merits."