Biden snags new endorsement
Clinton joins chorus as Sanders teams moves to back ex-vp
Hillary Clinton, the first woman to become a major party’s presidential nominee, endorsed Joe Biden’s White House bid Tuesday, continuing Democrats’ efforts to coalesce around the former vice president as he takes on President Donald Trump.
Clinton made her announcement during a Biden campaign town hall to discuss the novel coronavirus and its effect on women. Without mentioning Trump by name, Clinton assailed the Republican president and hailed Biden’s experience and temperament in comparison.
Biden, as a former vice president and six-term senator, “has been preparing for this moment his entire life,” said Clinton, a former secretary of state. “This is a moment when we need a leader, a president like Joe Biden.”
Elsewhere on the campaign trail:
Top advisers to Bernie Sanders’ unsuccessful presidential campaign are forming an outside political group to support Joe Biden, hoping to push the former vice president to the left on key issues and boost his appeal with progressives, young voters and Latinos who may remain wary of him.
The political action committee, announced Tuesday, is called A Future to Believe In. It will be headed by Sanders’ longtime senior strategist Jeff Weaver and include the Vermont senator’s top aide on Latino outreach, Chuck Rocha.
Biden is already working with a team to plan for his transition in preparation for winning the White House in November, he told donors during a virtual fundraiser Monday night.
Biden said he has been meeting with former Delaware Sen. Ted Kaufman, his longtime top aide, who was appointed to fill Biden’s Senate seat when he was elected vice president, to discuss his transition plans. Kaufman worked on Barack Obama’s transition team in 2008 and helped author legislation formalizing the presidential transition process.
Wisconsin health officials said Tuesday that 52 people who voted in person or worked at the polls for the state’s April 7 spring election and presidential primary have contracted COVID-19.
Voting rights advocates called on Arizona officials Tuesday to send a ballot to every registered voter for the primary and general elections this year and take other steps to ensure people can safely vote during the coronavirus outbreak.