Former President Obama's allies and advisers are rallying behind Vice President Kamala Harris as she prepares to face off against ex-President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Harris has recruited a team of Obama insiders, including David Plouffe, Stephanie Cutter, Mitch Stewart, and Jennifer Palmieri, to bolster her campaign efforts.
Vice President Kamala Harris is assembling a formidable campaign team as she prepares to take on former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Notably, Harris has recruited a number of former President Obama's allies and advisers to join her ranks.
Obama's Inner Circle Joins Harris' Presidential Campaign
Last week, Harris hired David Plouffe, who managed Obama's successful 2008 presidential campaign and served as a senior aide in his 2012 re-election effort, as a senior campaign adviser. Harris also brought on Stephanie Cutter, who served as deputy campaign manager for Obama's 2012 election, as her campaign's senior adviser for strategy messaging.
Mitch Stewart, who worked for both of Obama's campaigns as a grassroots strategist, has been hired by Harris as a senior adviser for battleground states. David Binder, who has long worked with Harris, is also expanding his role in the campaign to oversee its team of pollsters. Binder previously worked on Obama's public opinion research team.
Obama's Inner Circle Joins Harris' Presidential Campaign
Jennifer Palmieri, who served as White House director of communications under Obama and as director of communications for Hillary Clinton's failed 2016 White House bid, has been hired as senior adviser to Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff.
Harris has also tapped Obama's former attorney general, Eric Holder, to lead the vetting process of her potential running mates. Jennifer O'Malley Dillon, who worked as Obama's 2012 deputy campaign manager and Biden's 2024 re-election campaign chair, has been announced as Harris' campaign manager.
Obama's Inner Circle Joins Harris' Presidential Campaign
Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama officially endorsed Harris last week in a video.
"I can't have this phone call without saying to my girl Kamala: I am proud of you. This is going to be historic," Michelle Obama said in the video while speaking to Harris.
Obama's Inner Circle Joins Harris' Presidential Campaign
"We called to say Michelle and I couldn't be prouder to endorse you and do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office," former President Obama added.
Harris has had a close relationship with Obama since before she entered federal politics. She was among the first elected Democrats in the nation to endorse Obama's first run for president in the 2008 election, snubbing Hillary Clinton in favor of the then-Illinois senator.
Obama's Inner Circle Joins Harris' Presidential Campaign
After Biden withdrew from the race, Obama allies notably helped lead the charge in calling for the president to get out of the race in favor of a candidate they believed was more suitable to take on Trump.
Obama's former chief campaign strategist, David Axelrod, said last month that Biden is "not winning this race." Actor George Clooney called on Biden to drop out of the race in a bombshell op-ed that was published just weeks after the Hollywood star co-hosted Biden, alongside Obama, at a ritzy campaign event in Los Angeles.
Obama's Inner Circle Joins Harris' Presidential Campaign
Another ally in Obama's orbit, Jon Favreau, who served as former director of speech writing for Obama, also called on Biden to drop out of the race last month. Favreau, alongside former Obama advisers Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor – known collectively as the "Obama Bros" when they worked in the White House – also dedicated the majority of a podcast episode of "Pod Save America" in June to trashing Biden.
Harris announced her running mate on Tuesday, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Harris and Walz are expected to travel to Chicago this month for the Democratic National Convention while the election cycle enters its final months.
Obama's Inner Circle Joins Harris' Presidential Campaign
