WASHINGTON — Oh, the cringe.
Vice President Kamala Harris scored the endorsement of Barack and Michelle Obama on Friday, with her campaign posting a video of Harris pressing an iPhone to her ear — despite her cellphone’s display indicating that she was on speaker phone with the former first couple.
Harris feigned surprise in the clip — shot using multiple camera angles, indicating elaborate preparation.
“Kamala!” the 44th president greeted Harris, 59, as an aide to the vice president passed her the phone mid-stride.
“Hello? Hi!” Harris gasped.
“Hey there!” Michelle began.
“Aww, hi, you’re both together! Oh it’s good to hear you both,” the vice president swooned.
“I can’t have this phone call without saying to my girl, Kamala, I am proud of you. This is going to be historic,” said the former first lady, whom many Democrats had hoped would be their presidential candidate.
“We called to say Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” Barack Obama said.
“Oh my goodness. Michelle, Barack, this means so much to me. I am looking forward to doing this with the two of you — Doug and I both — and getting out there, being on the road,” Harris gushed.
“But most of all, I just want to tell you that the words you have spoken and the friendship that you have given over all of these years mean more than I can express. So thank you both. It means so much. And we’re going to have some fun with this too, aren’t we?”
Michelle Obama tweeted that she was backing Harris because of her “positivity, sense of humor, and ability to bring light and hope to people all across the country.”
The endorsement completes the alignment of party bigwigs behind Harris — whom former President Donald Trump in the past has sought to define as a “phony” — after President Biden on Sunday ended his campaign for a second term and endorsed Harris to be the Democratic nominee in the Nov. 5 election.
Former President Obama’s hand was widely seen behind the groundswell of Democratic calls for Biden to step aside over concern about his mental fitness following his dismal June 27 debate against Trump.
That rebellion gained traction after Obama friend George Clooney authored a July 10 op-ed calling for Biden to stand down — vaulting what was then largely back-bench public pressure from congressional Democrats into the party’s mainstream.
The Hollywood actor had hosted a record-breaking $30 million fundraiser for Biden in June — at which Obama guided Biden off-stage in what was widely interpreted at the time as an indication of his own doubts about Biden’s ability to serve a second term.
The Obamas were not among Harris’ early backers this week, with one source telling The Post that was because the still-popular ex-president “knows she can’t win.”