Joe Biden is endorsed by Deval Patrick, another former 2020 contender
Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick on Friday joined several other former 2020 presidential candidates in endorsing Joe Biden for president.
“At a time when our democracy is at risk, our economy is not working for many Americans, and our role in the world is unsteady, America needs a unifying and experienced leader, who can and wants to make life better for everyone everywhere. Joe Biden is that leader,” Patrick said in a statement provided by the Biden campaign.
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“I am today proud to endorse him for the Democratic nomination for President,” Patrick continued.
He joins former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Maryland Rep. John Delaney in endorsing Biden this week. Buttigieg, Klobuchar and O’Rourke endorsed Biden on Monday, right before the Super Tuesday contests.
Biden surged after his blowout win in South Carolina, and the Democratic centrist establishment has consolidated around the former vice president. CNN projected Biden would win 10 out of 14 states on Super Tuesday, including a dramatic upset victory in Texas and surprise wins in Minnesota and Massachusetts.
Patrick said that when he was governor of Massachusetts he worked closely with Biden, who was vice president at the time.
“I saw firsthand Joe’s essential role in passing historic health care reform, saving the American auto industry and our country from another depression, leading our troops home from war, and championing historic civil rights and LGBTQ equality,” Patrick said. He praised Biden’s work on a number of other issues, and called the candidate a “genuinely caring and compassionate person.”
Patrick ended his own late-entry presidential bid in February after a disappointing performance in the New Hampshire primary. He had campaigned as a moderate, calling for a public option to be added to Obamacare rather than supporting “Medicare for All,” a proposed government-run single-payer health care program.
