Former White House press secretary Jay Carney, who served as President Obama’s public spokesman for over three years from 2011 to 2014, said on Wednesday that Obama is for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries — but just won’t say so publicly.

“I don’t think there is any doubt that he wants Hillary to win the nomination and believes that she would be the best candidate in the fall and the most effective as president in carrying forward what he’s achieved,” Carney said on CNN, where he is currently a regular on-air contributor.

“I think the president has signaled, while still remaining neutral, that he supports Secretary Clinton’s candidacy and would prefer to see her as the nominee,” he further explained. “He won’t officially embrace her unless and until it’s clear that she’s going to be the nominee. I think he is maintaining that tradition of not intervening in a party primary.”

Photo: U.S. President Barack Obama looks up as he arrives to speak to supporters and volunteers at the Hoogland Center for the Arts in Springfield, Illinois February 10, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque