Former President Barack Obama reportedly isn’t ready to publicly endorse anyone in the 2020 Democratic primary quite yet.
CNN reported on Monday that Obama had called his former vice president Joe Biden to congratulate him on his decisive victory in South Carolina’s primary on Saturday, but also told him he was still holding off on making an endorsement.
An unnamed confidant to Obama told CNN that the former commander-in-chief believes it’s too soon to announce who he plans to back in the primary, fearing that doing so could be divisive at this stage of the race.
“He feels that he’s singularly positioned to help unify the party at the end of this,” the source said. “And if he were try to put his thumb on the scale now, it would take away his ability to do so when it’s most needed–the general election.”
During an interview on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday, Biden told show host George Stephanopoulos that Obama’s lack of endorsement “isn’t hurting me.”
“I have to earn this on my own,” he said.
After floundering in Iowa and New Hampshire and then coming in distant second to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in the Nevada caucus, Biden’s campaign saw a much-needed boost in South Carolina, where the former vice president raked in a jaw-dropping 48% of the votes.
