President Obama will not wade into the Democratic nominating contest between former Secertary of State Hillary Clinton, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough pledged Sunday.
“That’s not our job,” McDonough said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“That’s the job of the party to make those decisions and then they’ll take a look at the agendas and the positions of those candidates,” McDonough said.
Obama said last week that he will not support any candidates, including Democrats, who oppose what he calls common sense gun laws
Asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” if Obama would vote in the general election for former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, McDonough did not answer.
“That sounds to me like a hypothetical built on a hypothetical. We’ll wait and see what happens,” McDonough said.
Bloomberg, who has reportedly commissioned a poll about his viablity running for president as an independent bid, has spent heavily to promote stricter gun laws, and like Obama, has touted himself as a postpartisan figure.
McDonough revealed Sunday that President Obama has met with privately with Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent giving Clinton a stiff challenge in Iowa and New Hampshire primary polling.
“He has seen Sen. Sanders, both with the Senate Democratic Caucus and privately,” McDonough said.
Obama has met with Hillary Clinton privately three times in the last six months, however.
“He’s obviously a leading sentor in our caucus,” McDonough said.
