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Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders Rack Up Endorsements, Appeal to Voters Ahead of New Wave of Voting

HeadlineMar 09, 2020

Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden have received high-profile endorsements as voters in six states prepare to head to the polls Tuesday. New Jersey senator and former 2020 presidential candidate Cory Booker just announced he is endorsing former Vice President Biden, and California senator and fellow former presidential candidate Kamala Harris also threw her support behind Biden Sunday.

Sen. Kamala Harris: “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. I am supporting Joe because I believe that he is a man who has lived his life with great dignity. He is a public servant who has always worked for the best of who we are as a nation. And we need that right now.”

Civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson — who ran for president in 1984 and 1988 — endorsed Bernie Sanders Sunday. Sanders backed Jesse Jackson’s 1988 presidential bid and has said his own campaign was inspired by Jackson and his Rainbow Coalition. In a statement, Jackson said the needs of African Americans are “not moderate” and that “a people far behind cannot catch up choosing the most moderate path.” This is Reverend Jesse Jackson speaking at a Bernie Sanders rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sunday.

Rev. Jesse Jackson: “I stand with Bernie Sanders today because he stood with me. I stand with him because he’s never lost his taste for justice for the people. I stand with him because he stands with you.”

Michigan, which Jesse Jackson won during the 1988 primaries, is one of six states holding primaries or caucuses Tuesday; the others are Mississippi, Missouri, Idaho, North Dakota and Washington, which votes by mail-in ballot. Due to coronavirus, officials have urged voters not to lick their envelopes.

Bernie Sanders also campaigned in Flint, Ann Arbor and Detroit ahead of tomorrow’s vote. He attacked Joe Biden’s support for trade deals, including NAFTA and “permanent normal trade relations with China,” which he says have cost Americans millions of well-paid jobs and hurt unions. Also on Sunday, the group Justice Democrats, which helped propel Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to her electoral victory in 2018, endorsed Bernie Sanders.

Meanwhile, remarks by Joe Biden at a Missouri rally have come under scrutiny as some are raising questions about his possible mental decline. During a seven-minute address, he appears to struggle to finish a sentence, mistakenly saying he is seeking reelection.

Joe Biden: “Turn this primary from a campaign that’s about negative attacks into one that’s about what we’re for, because we cannot get reelect — we cannot win this reelection — excuse me, we can only reelect Donald Trump if in fact we get engaged in this circular firing squad here.”

Biden has spoken candidly about struggling with a stutter when he was young. But in an interview with Axios last year, Biden denied that such mistakes are due to his stutter, saying, “Look, the mistakes I make are mistakes.”

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders will debate Sunday in Phoenix, Arizona, ahead of the state’s primary next Tuesday. The Sanders campaign has criticized the format of the CNN/Univision debate, which will see both candidates seated and includes taking pre-approved questions from audience members. Jeff Weaver, Sanders’s senior adviser, said, “Why does Joe Biden not want to stand toe-to-toe with Sen. Sanders on the debate stage March 15 and have an opportunity to defend his record and articulate his vision for the future?”

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