EXCLUSIVE: The Shocking Reason Barack Obama Dragged His Feet on Endorsing Kamala Harris Revealed... Before Ex-Veep's Humiliating Loss to Trump
Barack Obama was in no hurry to endorse Kamala Harris for president.
Oct. 28 2025, Published 5:27 p.m. ET
Former President Barack Obama was reluctant to endorse Kamala Harris after Joe Biden announced he was dropping out of the race.
Now, RadarOnline.com can report Obama was convinced the vice-president didn't stand a chance against Donald Trump – and he turned out to be right.
Harris was desperate for support after taking over Joe Biden's failed reelection campaign.
After Biden made his shocking decision, Obama called for patience before rushing to announce a new Democratic nominee.
Veteran ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl reveals in his new book Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America, Obama was hoping for an in-depth "process" to determine who would run.
However, after Harris was announced as the new nominee, prominent Democrats rushed to share their approval.
A senior Biden adviser, who also worked in the Obama White House, told Karl that the real reason Obama didn't want to endorse Harris automatically was because he didn't think the vice president could win.
"There's only one Black Jesus," the senior Biden adviser said, seemingly referring to Obama's popularity as the first Black president.
Oh No, Obama!
Nancy Pelosi was 'forced' into her endorsement of Harris.
Karl writes that Obama became enraged when former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced her backing of Vice President Harris, just one day after Biden exited the race,
"The Obamas were not happy," a Pelosi confidant told Karl. "This person summed up Obama's message to Pelosi as, essentially, 'What the f--- did you just do?'"
However, it seems Harris wasn't Pelosi's first choice either. Karl writes that Pelosi privately told Biden in 2020 that she had reservations about him picking her as his running mate.
But after several major Democrats also quickly endorsed Harris, Pelosi had to cave in as well.
"She had no choice," Karl wrote about Pelosi’s endorsement. "No other candidates had stepped forward – Kamala Harris was it. The only thing Pelosi could do was try to help her win the election."
Failure to Communicate
Obama urged patience before anointing Harris
The speedy endorsement surprised Obama, who thought he and Pelosi had been in "regular communication" about the future of the Democratic party, as it began to appear inevitable that the then 81-year-old Biden was planning to call it a day.
Karl writes: "They agreed Harris should not simply be handed the nomination unchallenged.
"Therefore, Obama and Pelosi - arguably the two most influential figures in the Democratic Party - had privately agreed to abstain from making any endorsements."
However, once Biden announced his stunning decision to end his campaign, Pelosi told Obama, "That train has left the station."
Harris 2028?
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Harris has teased another run for office.
Harris would go on to lose the election to Donald Trump. But the 61-year-old recently declared she is "not done" with public service, and still sees a future for herself in national politics – perhaps even as president.
"I am not done. I have lived my entire career as a life of service and it's in my bones," Harris told the BBC in an interview.
The former vice president said her grandnieces would "see a female president in the White House in their lifetime, for sure," adding that it could "possibly" be her.
While Harris stopped short of confirming a 2028 campaign, she emphasized that her political ambitions remain alive.
"If I listened to polls, I would have not run for my first office, or my second office — and I certainly wouldn't be sitting here," she said, brushing off concerns about her polling numbers.
