Jay Carney: Obama wants Clinton to win

President Barack Obama will not endorse a candidate in the Democratic primary, but there is no doubt where he is leaning, according to former White House press secretary Jay Carney.

"I think the president has signaled while still remaining neutral that he supports Secretary Clinton's candidacy and would prefer to see her as the nominee," Carney said on CNN Wednesday following coverage of the president's speech to the Illinois state Senate in Springfield.


Obama will not "officially embrace her unless and until it's clear she is going to be the nominee," Carney said.

"I think he is maintaining that tradition of not intervening in a party primary," he added. "But I don't think there is any doubt that he wants Hillary to win the nomination and believes she would be the best candidate in the fall and the most effective as president in carrying forward what he has achieved."

In his speech, Obama blasted the level of political rhetoric in the United States in both parties, mentioning at one point that there is too much focus on political details like being a true Republican or being a "true progressive," a line of attack that Bernie Sanders has employed against Clinton.

