Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders endorsed former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential candidacy on Monday, with a vow to kick out Donald Trump.
Both Sanders and Biden made a joint online appearance.
“I am asking all Americans, I’m asking every Democrat, I’m asking every independent, I’m asking a lot of Republicans to come together in this campaign to support your candidacy, which I endorse,” Sanders said.
“We’ve got to make Trump a one-term president,” he added.
“I will do all that I can to make that happen.”
Mr. Biden said: “I’m going to need you. Not just to win the campaign, but to govern.”
The coalescence behind Mr. Biden is expected to gain even more heft with the expected endorsement of Senator Elizabeth Warren, the only major former rival yet to publicly back Mr. Biden. She is expected to announce her support soon, according to people familiar with the matter, adding another liberal standard-bearer to his coalition. There is not any holdup or demand for concessions in return for her backing, these people said.
The challenge now for Mr. Biden and Mr. Sanders is to create an agenda that hews to Mr. Biden’s relatively moderate policy views, and draws in progressives, but also seems big enough to match the extraordinary moment in the country.
It is a complicated task for both of them: Mr. Biden will have to persuade more Sanders-supporting liberals that he will fight for their interests, and Mr. Sanders is essentially committing himself to try to vouch for Mr. Biden or at least bring more of his followers into the Biden camp. Neither man can predict with any assurance how their political alliance will pan out or what voters will make of it.
Already, progressive groups and activists were expressing skepticism about how far Mr. Biden would go to incorporate Mr. Sanders’s followers.
“Winning over Senator Sanders is one thing, but Joe Biden shouldn’t think that the work is over,’’ said Evan Weber, political director for the Sunrise Movement, an organization of young climate activists that had endorsed Mr. Sanders. He added, “There is still work to do to win over progressive leaders and young people.”
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