An NBC News journalist claimed in his new book that former President Barack Obama was “working against” then-Vice President Kamala Harris behind the scenes to prevent her from becoming the nominee.
Jonathan Allen is an NBC News journalist and co-author of the new book “FIGHT: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House,” as well as co-author of several previous books: “HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton,” “Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign,” and “Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won The Presidency.”
During an April 1 appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Allen discussed his new book and his allegations that Obama did not want Harris to be the Democrats’ 2024 presidential nominee, and how he had supposedly worked behind the scenes to stop this outcome. He also noted that Obama did not want former President Joe Biden to stay in the race either, and instead wanted an actual process to play out to select the next nominee.
“President Obama absolutely did not think that Joe Biden should continue, according to our sources close to President Obama,” Allen said, according to Mediaite. “And he also didn’t want Kamala Harris to be the replacement for Biden. He didn’t think that she was the best choice for Democrats. And he worked really behind the scenes for a long time to try to have a mini-primary or an open convention or mini-primary leading to an open convention, did not have faith in her ability to win the election. So and as it turned out, she didn’t win, but he was really working against her.”
“In one moment, he had set up a phone call with Congressman [Jim] Clyburn from South Carolina on the day that Joe Biden handed off the baton to Kamala Harris,” he added. “And Obama had set up a call with Clyburn for like 5:30 that afternoon. And Clyburn thought to himself, ‘This guy is going to try to rope me into the open convention thing. I better get my endorsement of Harris out there fast so that this is a short conversation.’ And when Harris talked to Obama on the day that Biden handed off to her, Obama was unwilling to give his endorsement then.”
NBC News reporter Jonathan Allen says Barack Obama worked "behind the scenes" to derail Kamala Harris in 2024: pic.twitter.com/jFkVwyR2Yv
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) April 3, 2025
Allen explains in his book that Obama “flat-out told allies” during “private conversations” that Harris would obviously “lose to Trump” — quoting one Obama “confidant” as stating: “He did not think she should be the candidate.”
The journalist goes on to claim that Obama preferred Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) as the presidential nominee and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) as the vice-presidential nominee, adding that Obama “didn’t want a coronation of Harris.”
In another interview, this time with Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” Allen claimed that, when Biden dropped out, Obama told Harris: “I don’t want to put my thumb on the scale.”
“She was disappointed but not necessarily shocked because he’d been behind the scenes trying to undermine her for the last several weeks before Biden even got out,” he added.
