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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar to Endorse Bernie Sanders Ilhan Omar Endorses Bernie Sanders, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Will Do So as Well
(32 minutes later)
WESTERVILLE, Ohio — Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, a star of the progressive left, plans to endorse Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont for the Democratic presidential nomination at a rally this weekend, Mr. Sanders’s campaign said Tuesday night. Also on Tuesday, Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota endorsed Mr. Sanders. WESTERVILLE, Ohio — Representative Ilhan Omar endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont for the Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will endorse Mr. Sanders at a rally this weekend, according to his campaign.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez will appear at Mr. Sanders’s “Bernie’s Back” rally in Queens on Saturday. Earlier Tuesday, his campaign had teased that Mr. Sanders would have a “special guest” at the event. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York and a star of the progressive left, will join Mr. Sanders at his “Bernie’s Back” rally in Queens on Saturday. Earlier Tuesday, his campaign had teased that Mr. Sanders would have a “special guest” at the event.
The planned endorsement was first reported by The Washington Post, as the Democratic presidential candidates were wrapping up their appearances in the fourth debate of the primary season. News of the endorsements came as the Democratic presidential candidates were wrapping up their appearances in the fourth debate of the primary season. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s planned endorsement was first reported by The Washington Post.
News of the endorsement comes just two weeks after Mr. Sanders suffered a heart attack in Las Vegas. Since then, he has been recovering, first at a hospital and then at his home in Burlington, Vt. “Bernie is leading a working-class movement to defeat Donald Trump that transcends generation, ethnicity and geography,” Ms. Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, said in a statement.
The endorsement by Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, among the most influential and visible progressives in the country — and also one of the youngest people ever elected to Congress — will provide a much-needed boost to Mr. Sanders’s campaign. It could also serve to quell some concerns about his health and his age. She cited the bill she and Mr. Sanders introduced in June to cancel all of the country’s student debt, worth about $1.6 trillion, and praised him for working to end foreign wars. “I believe Bernie Sanders is the best candidate to take on Donald Trump in 2020,” she said.
The debate on Tuesday night in Westerville, Ohio, just outside of Columbus, was Mr. Sanders’s first appearance before a national audience since his heart attack. In his own statement, Mr. Sanders called Ms. Omar “a leader of strength and courage.”
Mr. Sanders’s health issues have cast a degree of uncertainty over his campaign and left his aides rushing to reassure voters about his age and health, just as he was trying to improve his standing in a race that in recent weeks has become more of a two-person contest between Senator Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. The endorsements, which come just two weeks after Mr. Sanders suffered a heart attack in Las Vegas, are likely to provide a much-needed boost to Mr. Sanders’s campaign. They could also serve to quell some concerns about his health and his age.
Mr. Sanders, 78, has been recovering since his heart attack, first at a hospital and then at his home in Burlington, Vt. The debate on Tuesday night in Westerville, Ohio, just outside of Columbus, was his first appearance before a national audience since the episode.
Mr. Sanders’s health issues have cast a degree of uncertainty over his campaign and left his aides rushing to reassure voters about his age and health, just as he was trying to improve his standing in a race that in recent weeks has become more of a two-person contest between Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Asked about his health directly at the debate on Tuesday night, Mr. Sanders nodded to the rally and to the “special guest.”Asked about his health directly at the debate on Tuesday night, Mr. Sanders nodded to the rally and to the “special guest.”
“Let me invite you all to a major rally we’re having in Queens,” he said. “We’re going to have a special guest at that event, and we are going to be mounting a vigorous campaign all over this country.”“Let me invite you all to a major rally we’re having in Queens,” he said. “We’re going to have a special guest at that event, and we are going to be mounting a vigorous campaign all over this country.”
He also said, “I’m feeling great.”He also said, “I’m feeling great.”
Mr. Sanders’s campaign is billing the New York rally as his official return to the campaign trail. It had toyed with holding the rally in Prospect Park, according to an aide, but settled on a park in Queens, with a backdrop of the Manhattan skyline. Mr. Sanders’s campaign is billing the New York rally as his official return to the campaign trail. It had toyed with holding the rally in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, according to an aide, but settled on a park in Queens, with a backdrop of the Manhattan skyline.
An endorsement from Ms. Ocasio-Cortez in the presidential race was highly coveted. For months, both Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren had been jockeying for her support. In addition to being one of the country’s most prominent progressives, she has also become one of President Trump’s favorite foils. Presidential endorsements from the congresswomen, both members of the group of first-term Democratic women of color known as “the squad,” were highly coveted. In addition to being among the country’s most prominent progressives, they have also become some of President Trump’s favorite foils.
Last month, Ms. Warren won the endorsement of the Working Families Party, a progressive group that endorsed Mr. Sanders during the last presidential cycle.
This is a developing story and will be updated. The endorsement was a boon to Ms. Warren’s candidacy as she aimed to position herself as Mr. Biden’s main rival and the standard-bearer for the progressive left. But it also unnerved supporters of Mr. Sanders, who criticized the endorsement process.
Matt Stevens contributed reporting. Matt Stevens contributed reporting from New York.