Is President Obama Feeling the Bern?

After rejecting any comparison between his own presidential campaign in 2008 and Bernie Sanders’ campaign in 2016, President Obama welcomes the Democratic presidential contender to the Oval Office today for a private, informal meeting.

The meeting, which is closed to the press, could be awkward, given the president’s recent comments that seemingly downplayed the allure of the Sanders’ grassroots campaign. A White House spokeswoman suggested no photos are expected.

“The President and Senator Sanders first discussed this meeting last December when Senator Sanders attended the Congressional Holiday Ball,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest wrote in a statement confirming the 11:45 a.m. meeting. “The two will meet privately in the Oval Office and there will be no formal agenda."

Even after Hillary Clinton left her position as secretary of state following Obama's reelection in 2012, the president still regularly meets informally at the White House with Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner.

ABC News’ latest polling shows Clinton leading Sanders by 19 points nationally -- her smallest lead yet, with five days to go until the Feb. 1 Iowa Caucus. A new Quinnipiac poll of Iowa has Sanders moving ahead of Clinton with 49 percent support to her 45 percent.

President Obama insists he will not endorse a Democratic presidential candidate until the party has settled on a nominee, but in a podcast interview with Politico's Glenn Thrush a week before the Iowa caucuses, he appeared to signal his preference for Clinton.

“She’s extraordinarily experienced -- and, you know, wicked smart and knows every policy inside and out,” Obama said, unabashedly touting Clinton's readiness to be commander-in-chief. "It means that she can govern and she can start here, day one, more experienced than any non-vice president has ever been who aspires to this office."

As for Sanders, the president indicated the upstart contender entered the race "with the luxury of being a complete long-shot and just letting loose” as he introduced himself to voters.

“I've gotten to know Hillary really well, and she is a good, smart, tough person who cares deeply about this country, and she has been in the public eye for a long time and in a culture in which new is always better,” Obama said. “You're always looking at the bright, shiny object that people don't -- haven't seen before. That's a disadvantage to her. Bernie is somebody who -- although I don't know as well because he wasn't, obviously, in my administration -- has the virtue of saying exactly what he believes, and great authenticity, great passion, and is fearless. His attitude is, ‘I got nothing to lose.’”

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