Senator Cory Booker endorsed his former 2020 rival Joe Biden on Monday, touting the former vice president as the figure who will unite the Democratic Party and pointing to Biden’s support among African American voters.
“The answer to hatred & division is to reignite our spirit of common purpose. @JoeBiden won’t only win — he’ll show there’s more that unites us than divides us,” Booker wrote in a Monday morning tweet. “He’ll restore honor to the Oval Office and tackle our most pressing challenges. That’s why I’m proud to endorse Joe.”
“It a time for us to beat Donald Trump and it became very clear to me that Joe Biden is the right person to do that,” the New Jersey senator added during an appearance on CBS. “It’s about time that we start unifying as a party and begin the work to beat Donald Trump, and frankly save our nation.”
Booker, who is black, noted Biden’s “understanding the issues of race and frankly racial reconciliation and racial justice, and even saying things now about choosing a black woman on the Supreme Court.”
“African-American voters in the South, African-American voters here in Detroit, they have played a pivotal role in my entire lifetime in choosing the Democratic nominee,” Booker said.
Booker’s endorsement came a day after another high-profile former Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, who is also black, endorsed the former vice president. Harris dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination in December and endorsed Biden on Sunday.
“There is no one better prepared than Joe to steer our nation through these turbulent times, and restore truth, honor, and decency to the Oval Office. He is kind and endlessly caring, and he truly listens to the American people,” the California senator said in her endorsement.
“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,” Harris added in a video statement.
Booker will appear with Biden at an event in Detroit and Harris will join both of them for an event in Flint, Michigan.
Biden wrested front-runner status from Senator Bernie Sanders after the Super Tuesday primary elections and now leads Sanders nationally at 50 percent support compared to the Vermont progressive’s 35 percent, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls.