Sally Yates endorses Biden

Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, who was fired by President Trump, endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden’s White House bid on Thursday.

Yates cited Biden’s “vast experience” and said she had witnessed him “grapple with some of the country’s greatest challenges” in the Obama administration. 

“I trust him to always put the country’s interests before his own; to tell us the truth; to appeal to our best, not our worst, instincts; to unite rather than divide us; and to always treat the presidency as a privilege rather than an entitlement,” she added.

The former deputy attorney general noted that she is “not a political person,” but “our country needs Joe Biden.”

“But there is too much at stake now for any of us to sit on the sidelines,” she said. “This is indeed a battle for the soul of America — who we are, or at least who we have always aspired to be.”

“While our country can survive four years of our current president, at the end of eight years, I fear that we will not recognize the nation that we have become,” she added. 

Trump fired Yates in 2017 after she refused to defend his travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries. Since then, she has been an outspoken critic of the president.

Her endorsement comes after Biden had a strong week, winning contests in Idaho, Michigan, Missouri and Mississippi. His opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), is projected to win North Dakota and leads in Washington state, where votes are still being counted. 

The Vermont senator on Wednesday vowed to stay in the race, despite his losses on Tuesday.

Currently, Biden has collected 864 delegates, and Sanders has earned 710, although not all of the delegates from Super Tuesday and this Tuesday’s races have been allocated.

The Biden campaign also said on Thursday that the former vice president has received endorsements from more than 80 Georgia officials.