Obama tells Democrats to 'chill out' over 2020 candidates

Former President Obama is no longer staying silent on the 2020 election.

Speaking in California, Obama told a room of Democratic donors that they need to "chill out about the candidates," ABC News reported.

"But gin up about the prospect of rallying behind whoever emerges from this process," he added.

Obama has stayed largely on the sidelines of the 2020 Democratic primary. He hasn't even endorsed a candidate yet, including his former vice president, Joe Biden.

The former president preached a message of unity, urging candidates to reframe policy rifts as "tactical disagreements" and to focus on the mail goal — winning the election.

"There will be differences, but I want us to make sure that we keep in mind that relative to the ultimate goal, which is to defeat a president and a party that has, I think, taken a sharp turn away from a lot of the core traditions and values and institutional commitments that built this country," he said. "Compared to that goal, the differences we're having right now are relatively minor."

Overall, there are still 17 candidates in the race — and Obama stated bluntly that the party should rally behind whoever wins the primary.

"There's going to be one person, and if that is not your perfect candidate and there are certain aspects of what they say that you don't agree with, and you don't find them completely inspiring the way you'd like — I don't care," he said. "The stakes are so high that you cannot afford to be ambivalent in this race."