Barack, Michelle Obama endorse Kamala Harris

Barack and Michelle Obama; (right) Kamala Harris. Pics/AFP

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama have endorsed Kamala Harris in her White House bid, giving the vice president the expected but still crucial backing of the nation's two most popular Democrats.

The endorsement, announced Friday morning in a video showing Harris accepting a joint phone call from the former first couple, comes as Harris continues to build momentum as the party's likely nominee after President Joe Biden's decision to end his re-election bid and endorse his second-in-command against Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump.

It also highlights the friendship and potentially historic link between the nation's first Black president and the first woman, first Black woman and first person of Asian descent to serve as vice president, who is now vying to break those same barriers at the presidential rank. "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," the former president told Harris, who is shown taking the call as she walks backstage at an event, trailed by a Secret Service agent. Michelle Obama said, "I can't have this phone call without saying to my girl, Kamala, I am proud of you.

‘Look forward to getting there'

Harris, who has known the Obamas since before his election in 2008, thanked them for their friendship and said she looks forward to "getting there, being on the road" with them in the three-month blitz before Election Day on Nov. 5.

Netanyahu to meet Trump, mending years-long rift

As president, Donald Trump went well beyond his predecessors in fulfilling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top wishes from the United States. Yet by the time Trump left the White House, relations between the two had broken down after Netanyahu rapidly congratulated Joe Biden on his 2020 presidential victory. On Friday, the two men will meet face-to-face for the first time in nearly four years in a test of whether the relationship can be mended. Both have an interest in getting past their differences. For Trump, now the Republican presidential nominee, the meeting could cast him as an ally and statesman, as well as sharpen efforts by Republicans to portray themselves as the party most loyal to Israel.

‘Israel has right to defend itself, but how also matters'

Kamala Harris with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Pic/AFP

Stating that Israel has a right to defend itself, but how it does so matters, said US Vice President Kamala Harris after her meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighting the human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians. "I've said it many times, but it bears repeating. Israel has a right to defend itself, and how it does so matters. Hamas is a brutal terrorist organisation. On October 7, Hamas triggered this war. Hamas has committed horrific acts of violence and took 250 hostages. There are American citizens who remain captive in Gaza," Harris told reporters.

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