Former US president Barack Obama will soon endorse Kamala Harris in the presidential race, according to reports.
Mr Obama has privately endorsed the current Democratic Vice President to be her party’s pick to take on Donald Trump in November’s vote after incumbent Joe Biden announced he was withdrawing from the race, NBC reported.
He is said to be planning to make a high-profile announcement and to appear with her on the campaign trail with her, but has not already publicised his backing for fear of overshadowing Mr Biden’s historic decision not to seek a second term.
A source told the broadcaster: “He has been in regular contact with her and thinks she's been off to a great start.”
Former First Lady Michelle Obama is also reportedly planning to give her backing.
Mr Obama is among the few senior figures within the Democratic Party who has yet to state their support of Ms Harris, but she has comfortably garnered the support of enough delegates within the party to likely emerge from the Democratic National Convention in August as its candidate.
No other challengers have yet publicly declared a bid to also secure the presidential nomination and face off against the Republicans’ Donald Trump.
She has received backing from would-be potential challengers, such as Democratic governors Gavin Newsom of California, JB Pritzker of Illinois, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, and Andy Beshear of Kentucky.
Former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is seen as being instrumental in persuading Mr Biden to stand down from the 2024 race, has also endorsed Ms Harris, saying she has “full confidence she will lead us to victory”.
Polls suggest that the former California senator and Attorney General will face a close race against Mr Trump if she is successful in winning the nomination.
A CNN/SRS poll on Wednesday found that Mr Trump holds 49% support among registered voters countrywide to Ms Harris’ 46%.
Meanwhile, a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Tuesday showed Ms Harris with a marginal two-percentage-point lead over Mr Trump, on 44% to 42%.
Both findings are within the polls’ margins-of-error, and show an improvement on the Democrats’ position compared to polls taken just before Mr Biden stood down.
Ms Harris, the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as Vice President, would become the first woman elected president if she wins on November 5.
She has characterised the race as being a choice on whether Americans want to “live in a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear and hate?”
But the Republican campaign has criticised her record in office, saying she “threw open our borders” as Vice President after being given responsibility for working with countries in Central America to help lower migration.
