President Obama has recorded numerous election-season robocalls for Democrats, but the White House refuses to say how many calls the president has recorded or which candidates are benefiting.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest argued Tuesday that it’s up to “individual candidates” to decide whether they want to promote the fact that the president has recorded robocalls to help their campaigns.
On Monday, a robocall from Mr. Obama on behalf of Sen. Kay Hagan went out to North Carolina voters, but the call wasn’t touted by the administration or the campaign of Ms. Hagan, a Democrat.
It was her challenger, Republican Thom Tillis, who promoted the robocall through social media in an effort to tie Ms. Hagan to an unpopular president.
The administration also will offer no hints about which races will get Mr. Obama’s personal attention on election day, saying voters won’t know about a presidential robocall until they pick up the phone.
“If they get a robocall from the president, his voice is pretty distinctive. I think they’ll recognize it,” Mr. Earnest said.
More broadly, the press secretary said the administration will allow candidates to decide how, or if, they promote personal endorsements from Mr. Obama.
“We have deferred to individual candidates … once the campaigns are over, we’ll have a little more latitude to share that information with you,” Mr. Earnest said.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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