Former President Barack Obama just went public with praise for the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) newly-chosen leader. 

Obama did so with a message that he released, on Saturday, via his X account.

Before we look at what the former president had to say, though, we will catch you up to speed on the new leadership.

Congrats to our new DNC chair, Ken Martin. Ken has done outstanding work in Minnesota, and will bring that same energy and drive to this new role. Together, we need to build a bold, responsive Democratic Party that can tell a compelling story about who we’re fighting for and… https://t.co/0IK7DhBXxc

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 1, 2025

DNC votes for new chair

On Saturday, the DNC got together to vote for its next leader.

Fox News reports:

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Saturday elected Minnesota party leader Ken Martin, who once called for President Donald Trump to be tried for treason, as its next national chair in the wake of the party's disastrous performance in the November elections.

The big question since the 2024 presidential election has been how the Democratic Party would recover. This is the first step in this direction.

Fox reports:

The election of Martin is the party's first formal step to try and rebound from the November elections, in which President Donald Trump recaptured the White House, and Republicans flipped the Senate, held on to their fragile majority in the House and made major gains with working-class, minority and younger voters.

Martin, however, is inheriting a lot of problems.

Obama weighs in

Following the news of Martin's election, Obama took to social media to congratulate him.

The former president wrote:

Congrats to our new DNC chair, Ken Martin. Ken has done outstanding work in Minnesota, and will bring that same energy and drive to this new role. Together, we need to build a bold, responsive Democratic Party that can tell a compelling story about who we’re fighting for and where we need to go as a country. I am grateful to all who are stepping up to engage. Lots of work ahead!

A question that many have is what role Obama may or may not have played in getting Martin elected. At this time, we do not have the answer, but obviously Obama remains a major figure in Democratic Party politics.

It appears that one of Martin's goals is going to be to unite Democrats. In his first statement, he said, "We have one team, one team, the Democratic Party. The fight is for our values. The fight is for working people. The fight right now is against Donald Trump and the billionaires who bought this country."

It is worth noting that he was the DNC vice chairman for the past several years.