Biden: Buttigieg ‘reminds me of my son Beau’

Joe Biden complimented former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg at a rally Monday night after Buttigieg announced his endorsement of the former vice president, telling attendees that the 38-year-old reminds him of his late son, Beau Biden.

With Buttigieg standing beside him, the former Delaware senator said the remark was the “highest compliment” he could give another person. Biden’s eldest son — like Buttigieg, a military veteran — died from brain cancer in 2015.

“I don’t think I’ve ever done this before, but he reminds me of my son Beau,” Biden said. “That may not mean much to most people, but to me, it’s the highest compliment I can give any man or woman.”

“Like Beau, he has a backbone … like a ramrod,” Biden continued.

Joe Biden says Pete Buttigieg “reminds me of my son Beau. That may not mean much to most people, but to me, it’s the highest compliment I can give any man or woman.” pic.twitter.com/tZ34vqEK2k

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 3, 2020

Buttigieg conceded his bid for the 2020 Democratic nomination this week after disappointing performances in the Nevada and South Carolina primary contests, although he performed better than Biden in both of the first two states of the primary season, Iowa and New Hampshire.

Fellow former 2020 candidates Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) also planned to endorse Biden on Monday evening, a sign that the moderate wing of the party is coalescing around him in the face of the candidacy of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who leads in the delegate count going in to Super Tuesday.