President Barack Obama’s chief of staff said the White House will not endorse a Democratic primary candidate in the 2016 contest — contrary to reports over the summer suggesting the president might have been interested in weighing in.

“We’ll do exactly what has been done in the past, which is when the nominee will be set, then the president will be out there,” White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said in a ‘Meet the Press’ interview with Chuck Todd Sunday.

McDonough also responded to questions about whether Obama’s op-ed in the New York Times about gun control — which stated that he will only campaign for candidates who support gun reform — was an attempt to call out Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, who has waffled on the gun issue over the course of his political career.

“This isn’t only about the [presidential] primary,” McDonough said. “We’ve got a third of the Senate that’s running, we’ve got all the House that’s running, we’ve got state houses and governorships across the country where this is going to be an issue on the ballot.”

President Barack Obama’s chief of staff said the White House will not endorse a Democratic primary candidate in the 2016 contest — contrary to reports over the summer suggesting the president might have been interested in weighing in.

“We’ll do exactly what has been done in the past, which is when the nominee will be set, then the president will be out there,” White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said in a ‘Meet the Press’ interview with Chuck Todd Sunday.

McDonough also responded to questions about whether Obama’s op-ed in the New York Times about gun control — which stated that he will only campaign for candidates who support gun reform — was an attempt to call out Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, who has waffled on the gun issue over the course of his political career.

“This isn’t only about the [presidential] primary,” McDonough said. “We’ve got a third of the Senate that’s running, we’ve got all the House that’s running, we’ve got state houses and governorships across the country where this is going to be an issue on the ballot.”

This article first appeared on NBCNews.com.