President Obama will not endorse a candidate in the 2016 Democratic primary race, a top White House official said Sunday.
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Many took this as a direct message to Senator Bernie Sanders, whose past stances on gun control have been perceived to the right of most Democrats.
Obama’s fifth chief of staff criticized GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump, saying “it’s hard to segregate him and all the other candidates out there seeming to run down America”.
When Earnest was pressed on whether Obama’s op-ed meant the president would not campaign for Sanders if he ultimately secured the Democratic nomination for president, Earnest stressed Sanders has indicated he is “willing to revisit” his position, which was “exactly the goal” of the president’s op-ed. “Sanders to stand up and say, ‘I got this one wrong, ‘” Clinton told MSNBC’s “Hardball” on Friday. Not the case, according to White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest.
Wallace asked McDonough whether the president will go around Congress to close the terrorist detention facility if the legislature refuses to act.
“We want people to change their minds”.
Obama will be “out there” campaigning after the primary election to support the Democratic candidate, he added. Obama has sought to avoid showing favoritism in the Democratic primary, in which Clinton and Sanders have both portrayed themselves as the best protector of Obama’s legacy. He has defended himself against attacks over his gun votes by pointing out that his rural state, Vermont, has some of the nation’s most lax gun control laws.
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Sanders now says he supports banning assault weapons and closing the so-called gun show loophole that exempts private, unlicensed gun sales from background check requirements.
