President Obama is on vacation, but he’s working on the sidelines to bolster Democratic support for his unpopular nuclear deal with Iran.
The New York Times reports that Obama is making personal phone calls to congressional Democrats between games of golf and time with family.
A White House official indicated that Obama is urging Democrats to publicly support the deal.
“If you support the deal, we’d like you to make that clear,” a White House official said, paraphrasing Obama’s message. “And if you still have concerns, we want to be able to answer those questions.”
Prior to Obama’s vacation, the White House told reporters that the Iran nuclear deal was not something that would distract him from his vacation.
“I do not anticipate that the President will spend a lot of time making calls on vacation,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest explained to reporters before the president’s vacation, but admitted that Obama might make “one-off calls.”
“I think most of the President’s time on Martha’s Vineyard will be spent with his family, or on the golf course, or a little bit of both,” he added.