Barack Obama has publicly endorsed the presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden – but has in principle expressed great concern about his run for the White House in 2020.
“Do not underestimate Joe’s ability to bring things up,” the former president told an unnamed Democrat, who told Politico about the conversation – apparently reflecting on a troubled history between the two.
Former Obama administration officials portrayed the relationship as warm and really close – but laden with tension over the gap between Biden’s old-school backslapping and Obama’s hyper-prepared wonkiness, the outlet reported.
“You could sometimes see technocratic eye-rollers,” according to former White House communications director Jen Psaki, who reminded other helpers of Biden’s frequent gaffs and lack of discipline.
That attitude contributed to Obama’s decision to support Hillary Clinton for the party’s 2016 nomination for Biden.
“The president was not encouraging,” Biden recalled in his 2017 memoir.
In 2019, when Biden jumped into the Democratic primary, Obama kept his distance from the game for months – and kept talking behind the scenes.
And during the run-up to this year’s Iowa caucuses, one Biden rival Politico told Obama privately about the bond he formed with state voters during his 2008 campaign.
But Biden struggled to understand the voters, # 44 once said.
“You know who really does not have it?” “Joe Biden.”
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