Former President Barack Obama withheld endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday because he is worried about being seen as a “back-room party” boss “engineering a Harris coronation,” Politico Playbook reported Monday.

The report underscores concerns that Obama pushed Biden out and is trying to coronate Harris as the de facto nominee, nullifying about 14 million votes Biden received in the Democrat primary.

A person familiar with Obama’s thinking appeared to refute those concerns to Playbook, however, claiming that Obama wants Democrats “to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.”

“Just like he did in 2020 once Joe Biden earned the nomination, President Obama believes he will be uniquely positioned to help unite the party once we have a nominee, lift-up that candidate, and do everything he can to get that candidate elected in November,” the person added.

It appeared Obama played a significant role behind the scenes in Biden’s decision to step aside. Obama did not question the validity of Biden’s candidacy until Wednesday in a Washington Post leak. The leak immediately followed reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Democrat Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told the president in private to step aside.
The timing of the leak to the Post suggests an organized effort by the Democrat leaders to convince Biden to drop out after weeks of chaos within the party amid continued media scrutiny on Biden’s political viability.

“The idea here is that Obama, Pelosi, Jeffries, and Schumer do not want to be seen as back-room party bosses engineering a Harris coronation,” Playbook reported. “And if there’s a real challenge then they want to be able to unite the party again when there’s a nominee.”

Democrats appear to be coalescing around Harris, including Hillary and Bill Clinton, and the “squad.” The top Democrats who have not backed Harris in public are Obama, Pelosi, Jeffries, and Schumer.

“We would not be surprised if one or more of the three congressional leaders (especially Schumer) gets on board with Harris this week,” Playbook speculated.

It is unclear if any Democrat will announce a campaign against Harris with Obama’s reported support of Harris and her willingness to run on Biden’s record of open borders, inflation, and foreign policy mistakes.

Perceived threats to Harris include Gov. Roy Cooper (D), Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), Sen. Mark Kelly (D), Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), Gov. JB Pritzker (D), and Gov. Andy Beshear (D).

Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former RNC War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.