White House: Obama won’t endorse in primary

by Bradford Richardson - 01/10/16 10:01 AM ET

White House chief of staff Dennis McDonough on Sunday said President Obama will not endorse a candidate in the Democratic primary race.

“We’ll do exactly what has been done in the past,” McDonough said in an interview for NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

{mosads}He added that Obama will be “out there” campaigning after the primary to support the eventual nominee.

The president previously said he would vote in the Illinois primary coming on March 15. Front-runner Hillary Clinton, as an administration alumna, has been considered a virtual lock for Obama’s vote since Vice President Biden announced last year he would not be running.

Leading primary candidates Clinton and Bernie Sanders have both distanced themselves from Obama’s record in certain respects.

They both oppose his Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free-trade agreement and have said his signature healthcare legislation does not go far enough.

Clinton, who served as secretary of State from 2009 to 2013, has also criticized his foreign policy in Syria.

Tags Barack Obama Bernie Sanders Dem primary Denis McDonough Hillary Clinton Sunday shows