At a private meeting with black corporate donors in October 2019, former President Barack Obama gave his support to Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., While showing “lukewarm” support for his former Vice President Joe Biden, according with an excerpt from the new book, “Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency.”
The excerpt from the book, provided exclusively to The Hill, details how Obama defended Warren, while anticipating objections to her that “existed in the minds of his corporate and financial friends”.
Former President Barack Obama speaks at a rally to support Michigan’s democratic candidates at Detroit Cass Tech High School on October 26, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan.
(Getty Images)
“What if it raises your taxes a little bit? Compare that to what we have now,” said Obama, referring to then President Donald Trump.
Obama said he would support Warren if she won the nomination, and reportedly “emphasized that he wanted Wall Street and the corporate types to do the same”.
“‘Everyone in this room needs to do their part,’ he said. Republicans, he continued, are winning cycle after cycle, up and down at the polls, because their donors care more than Democrats.”
A donor in the room recalled that night was a “ninety percent Warren’s sermon”.
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At the time, the field filled with Democratic presidential candidates was narrowing to Warren, Biden, Senator Kamala Harris, D-Calif., And South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
Asked why Buttigieg did not get the nomination, Obama cited his youth and the fact that he was “short” and “gay”.
About Harris, Obama only acknowledged that he knew her, but “did not comment further.” When an executive in the audience reminded Obama that he had forgotten his two-term vice president, the former commander-in-chief was “apprehensive,” according to the book.
“‘His support for Biden was, at best, lukewarm,’ said the person. At that point, it didn’t matter what he said about Biden. His silence spoke for him.”
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“Lucky”, written by Amie Parnes of The Hill and Jonathan Allen of NBC, was released last Tuesday by Crown.
Fox News contacted Buttigieg and the White House for comment.