Obama has been awfully quiet about Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign, at least in public.

Behind the scenes, it’s a different story. Obama apparently offered some advice to Biden’s staff.

The Week reports:

Obama reportedly told Biden’s campaign staff not to let him ’embarrass himself’ TRENDING: BREAKING REPORT: President Trump to Nominate Amy Coney Barrett to Replace Ginsburg on the Supreme Court Former President Barack Obama isn’t yet sporting a Biden 2020 hat, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t paying attention to his former vice president’s campaign… Despite his watchful eye, Obama has been wary of Biden seeking the nomination. At one point before Biden entered the race, Obama reportedly said: “You don’t have to do this, Joe, you really don’t.” Biden, who benched himself during the 2016 election, responded by saying he couldn’t miss another shot to beat President Trump. In March, Obama reportedly told Biden’s advisers that they needed to make sure the former Vice President didn’t “embarrass himself” or “damage his legacy.”

As if that isn’t bad enough, Obama also reportedly told Joe he didn’t have to run if he didn’t want to.

FOX News reports:

Obama reportedly told Biden he didn’t have to run in 2020 Former President Barack Obama, discussing Joe Biden’s run for the high office in 2020, reportedly told his vice president that he didn’t “have to do this.” “You don’t have to do this, Joe, you really don’t,” Obama told Biden early in 2019, according to The New York Times. The Times reported that Obama “took pains to cast his doubts about the campaign in personal terms.” Biden, who leads President Trump in several polls on 2020 matchups, said he couldn’t forgive himself if he passed up the opportunity to beat Trump. He initially thought he could beat Trump in 2016, but Obama reportedly pushed back because, in part, he thought former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would be more effective in continuing his legacy, according to the report. Speculation has swirled over the decision by Obama to so far refrain from endorsing Biden formally. Still, despite Obama’s early hesitation, he has taken a much more involved role in Biden’s campaign than in that of other candidates’, The Times reported.

That doesn’t sound much like a vote of confidence, does it?

No wonder Obama hasn’t endorsed Biden.

Cross posted from American Lookout.