White House Press Secretary strongly hinted that the President may not sit out of the Democratic presidential primary leaving the door open for an endorsement of Clinton, Sanders, and Joe Biden should he run.
The White House did nothing to tamp down speculation Monday that Vice President Biden might mount a presidential bid in 2016. Press Secretary Josh Earnest heaped praise on the vice president and said President Obama could endorse — even in a race between Biden and his former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"I wouldn't rule out the possibility of an endorsement in the Democratic primary," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said at a press briefing. He also noted Obama would vote in the March Illinois Democratic primary.
NPR
The White House also implicated on who President Obama may be leaning toward, should he endorse.
Internally, there seems to be a distinct divide at the White House amongst former and current staffers on a Biden run but many Obama alumni seem to be on board if he runs.
Hearts are breaking in the White House and in the Obama alumni network just thinking about a Joe Biden presidential run. They don’t know what to root for.
Biden versus Hillary Clinton would tear at loyalties, emotions, political calculations — and, in some cases, actual contracts already signed with Clinton’s Brooklyn campaign headquarters.
“I don’t know what the official line will be,” said one West Wing staffer, “but you will have a lot of people in the building rooting for him.”
“Even if their mind is with Clinton,” the staffer added, reflecting feelings of others heard in the White House, “their heart is with the vice president.”
“If he decides to go on with this,” echoed a former senior Obama campaign official, “there will be a lot of people who make heart-and-gut decisions as opposed to head decisions.”
POLITICO
This is starting to look very real folks.