Bernie Sanders ends holdout and endorses Kamala Harris for president

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, shrinking the list of Democratic or Democratic-aligned politicians who have yet to fall in line behind the new presumptive nominee.

Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, held a rally Saturday in Portland, Maine, where he offered his endorsement to Harris.

“I want to thank the 800 people in Portland, Maine who joined me this morning at a high-energy rally,” Sanders wrote afterward on social media. “We must defeat Trump, elect VP @KamalaHarris, and create a government that works for all, not just the 1%.”

Just a day earlier, Sanders told MSNBC’s Ali Velshi that while he would work to help Harris, “we want to make sure that the vice president is listening to the working class of this country, to the progressives as well.”

Harris’s campaign now has the backing of one of the most influential progressive voices in Congress. Sanders, 82, is a self-described “democratic socialist” and performed well as a presidential candidate among younger voters.

The Vermont senator has been the runner-up to the Democratic nominee in both of the last two presidential primary contests. He fell short against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016 and again in 2020 to President Joe Biden, although he outlasted Harris that year.

Sanders maintained his support for Biden earlier this month despite growing unrest within the Democratic Party about his viability as a candidate against Republican nominee Donald Trump. Two weeks ago, he penned an op-ed in the New York Times affirming that he was behind the president.

“Biden may not be the ideal candidate, but he will be the candidate and should be the candidate,” Sanders wrote. “And with an effective campaign that speaks to the needs of working families, he will not only defeat Mr. Trump but beat him badly. It’s time for Democrats to stop the bickering and nit-picking.”

One day after Biden withdrew from the race, Sanders thanked his 2020 primary rival for his work over the past 3 1/2 years.

“Joe Biden has served our country with honor and dignity,” Sanders posted. “As the first president to ever walk on a picket line with striking workers, he has been the most pro-working class president in modern American history.”

A Fox News poll released Saturday shows Harris faring better than Biden against Trump in critical swing states. In Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, all of which have gone to the winners of the last four elections, she and the former president are within 1 percentage point of the other.