Senator Bernie Sanders has received a presidential endorsement from the Rev. Jesse Jackson following the presidential hopeful’s rally in Chicago. Jackson’s endorsement for Sanders comes more than three decades after the Vermont senator endorsed the reverend’s run for president in 1988.
“With the exception of Native Americans, African Americans are the people who are most behind socially and economically in the United States and our needs are not moderate,” Jackson said in a statement the Democratic presidential candidate’s campaign released Sunday morning, according to the Chicago Tribune. “A people far behind cannot catch up choosing the most moderate path. The most progressive social and economic path gives us the best chance to catch up and Senator Bernie Sanders represents the most progressive path. That’s why I choose to endorse him today.”
Over 30 years ago, Sanders stood at a podium to show his support for Jackson, whom he said had “done more than any other candidate in living memory to bring together the disenfranchised, the hungry, the poor, the workers who are being thrown out of their decent paying jobs and the farmers who are being thrown off of their land.”
“He needs us, let us be there for him,” Sanders said during his speech in 1988. “Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to place a nomination this evening. The name of one of the great leaders of our time and a man with wage the most courageous and the most exciting political campaign in the modern history of this nation. I place a nomination with a great deal of personal pride, the name of Jesse Jackson.”
The civil rights leader sought a Democratic nomination in 1984, as well as 1988, but was unsuccessfully both years.
Sanders, who also ran for president in 2016 did not receive an endorsement from Jackson, who supported his challenger, Hillary Clinton. At the time, Jackson said he had been in contact with advisors for Clinton and Sanders, according to CNN. He spoke to the importance of the Democrats being on a united front as they prepared for the general election against Donald Trump.
Jackson said in 2016 that Sanders “must support the winner, Hillary, over Donald Trump. That’s his very public position and I hope he will hold that position.”
Jackson’s endorsement for Sanders comes after California Senator Kamala Harris announced her support for former Vice President Joe Biden.
Perhaps, Sanders receiving a nomination from the Rev. Jesse Jackson could shift some of the preconceived notions folks have about him as a Democratic presidential candidate.
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