For the first time, President Obama signaled the need for the Democratic Party to come together around former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, privately telling party donors that the time has come to do so.
According to the New York Times, Obama made the remarks to donors at a fundraising event for the Democratic National Committee in Austin, Texas, last Friday, citing the waning campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders and the need to beat the Republican nominee in the fall as the reason.
Obama tamped down complaints that Clinton is not authentic enough for the campaign, telling the donors, many of whom were from Texas, that former President George W. Bush was deemed authentic, implying that being authentic doesn’t guarantee a successful commander in chief.
Throughout the campaign, Sanders has been lauded for being the more authentic candidate on the Democratic side. He also addressed the lack of excitement emenating from Clinton’s campaign, according to the report.
The comments came only days after Sanders scored a big upset in the Michigan primary and four days prior to Clinton scoring a near-clean sweep of the states voting on Tuesday, including the swing states of Florida and Ohio. The Missouri primary has yet to be called for either candidate
Throughout the campaign, Obama has decided against wading into the 2016 contest personally, having withheld an endorsement of either candidate and meeting with both during the course of the race.
Obama’s remarks were confirmed to the Times by a White House official.
