President Obama is ready to endorse Hillary Clinton and "make sure" she wins the presidency, NBC's Andrea Mitchell said Wednesday morning.
Reporting for The Today Show after Clinton celebrated clinching the Democratic Party's nomination the night before, Mitchell said Obama was prepared to go "all in" for his former secretary of state. He defeated her in a contentious primary in 2008 before naming her to head his State Department during his first term.
"With that big win now in California, Hillary Clinton has her best argument for persuading Bernie Sanders to concede, exactly eight years after Clinton's painful loss to Barack Obama," Mitchell said. "But now President Obama is ready to go all in to make sure that Clinton can succeed him in the Oval Office."
The press often makes hay of Obama's skills on the campaign trail and his influence over the Democratic Party. Mitchell's use of the term "make sure" was odd, though, as though implying he would ensure her victory once he began stumping for her.
The White House has hinted strongly at Obama's support for Clinton but has not made a full-throated endorsement as the primary between her and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) has played out. Clinton passed the delegate threshold this week to clinch the nomination, although Sanders has vowed to fight through to the Democratic National Convention.
Clinton routed Sanders in the California primary Tuesday night, the country's most delegate-heavy state, putting a major roadblock in his efforts to dissuade superdelegates from supporting Clinton.