Kamala Harris endorsed Joe Biden on Sunday, becoming the 9th former presidential candidate to give him the nod of approval in his race against Bernie Sanders.
‘I believe in Joe. I really believe in him and I have known him for a long time. One of the things that we need right now is we need a leader who really does care about the people and who can therefore unify the people. And I believe Joe can do that,’ the California senator said in a video announcing her endorsement.
She also noted she’ll be in Detroit Monday night to campaign for Biden ahead of Michigan’s primary on Tuesday.
Harris delivered a near knock-out punch to Biden in the first Democratic primary debate in June of last year, after she told the story of a little girl who benefited from a federal school program and ended it by dramatically declaring: ‘That girl was me.’
Her campaign jumped in the polls and brought in millions but she wasn’t able to sustain that moment and dropped out in December.
Despite the battle with Biden in that debate, the former vice president spoke favorably of her and even said he’d consider her as his running mate.
Kamala Harris endorsed Joe Biden on Sunday for president
Kamala Harris said in her endorsement ‘I believe in Joe’; the two are seen together on the debate stage in Detroit in July
Joe Biden has raked in endorsements in his bid to beat Bernie Sanders
Harris’ endorsement came after Elizabeth Warren, the last viable female candidate, exited the presidential race.
She addressed her disappointment there would not be a female nominee but noted the party needed to rally behind a candidate who could defeat President Donald Trump.
‘Like many women, I watched with sadness as women exited the race one by one. Four years after our nominee, the first woman to win the nomination of a major party, received 3 million more votes than Donald Trump but still lost, we find ourselves without any woman on a path to be the Democratic nominee for president,’ she said in a statement.
‘This is something we must reckon with and it is something I will have more to say about in the future. But we must rise to unite the party and country behind a candidate who reflects the decency and dignity of the American people and who can ultimately defeat Donald Trump,’ she added.
Biden has raked in the endorsements from his former rivals. Warren is notable exception. The Massachusetts senator has not said who she’ll support for president.
Harris delivered a near knock-out punch to Biden in the first Democratic primary debate, after she told the story of a little girl who benefited from a federal school program
Warren could play a kingmaker role in the primary – her support of Biden could bring some of the liberal left to his side, which would hurt Sanders. But if she endorses Sanders, it could lock up the left wing of the party in a battle against the more moderate wing that favors Biden.
‘Not today. I need some space around this, and I want to take a little time to think a little more,’ Warren said on Wednesday of last week, when she dropped out of the race and was asked who’d she endorse.
‘We don’t have to decide that this minute,’ she noted.
And, in a cameo appearance on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ Warren joked she may do what The New York Times did and endorse two candidates. The paper endorsed her and Amy Klobuchar.
In a cameo appearance on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ Elizabeth Warren joked she may do what The New York Times did and endorse two candidates
Amy Klobuchar appealed for Democrats to unit behind Joe Biden when she endorsed him last week
Pete Buttigieg endorsed Joe Biden’s presidential campaign at Chicken Scratch in Dallas, praising Biden’s leadership and ability to beat Donald Trump
Beto O’Rourke and Biden visited a Whataburger in Dallas, Texas, after he endorsed the former Vice President
‘Maybe I’ll just pull a New York Times and endorse them both,’ Warren said.
Klobuchar has endorsed Biden, as have Mike Bloomberg, Pete Buttigieg and Beto O’Rourke.
The Minnesota senator – along with Buttigieg – exited the race before the Super Tuesday contests and endorsed the former vice president, a move which boosted him in those contests. Biden won the most states although Sanders took the biggest prize of the night – the state of California.
Klobuchar denied she was pressured to exit the Democratic primary to endorse Biden and said there is no conspiracy among moderate Democrats to stop Sanders‘ from becoming the nominee.
The Minnesota senator told NBC’s ‘Today Show’ last week she left the contest because it was ‘the right thing to do.’
‘There literally was no push from anyone. It was a decision I made,’ she said.