Former Vice President Joe Biden acknowledged Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) exit from the Democratic primary on Wednesday, crediting his former rival with starting a movement.
“He hasn’t just run a political campaign; he’s created a movement,” Biden said in a statement shortly after Sanders announced to supporters his decision to suspend his campaign.
“And make no mistake about it, I believe it’s a movement that is as powerful today as it was yesterday,” Biden continued. “That’s a good thing for our nation and our future.”
Biden added that Sanders and his supporters changed the dialogue in the U.S. on a number of progressive issues like income inequality, universal health care, climate change and free college tuition.
Sanders’s decision to suspend his campaign essentially makes Biden the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. The former vice president already had a nearly insurmountable delegate lead over Sanders.
However, Biden would not have been able to reach the 1,991 delegates needed to become the nominee until at least June after a number of states delayed their primaries due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Sanders said in his address to supporters that he would stay on the ballot in the remaining states so that he can keep winning delegates in an effort to inflict “significant influence” on the party’s platform at the Democratic National Convention this summer.
The progressive senator added that he would also work with Biden to defeat President Trump in the general election.
“I congratulate Joe Biden, a very decent man, who I will work with to move our progressive ideas forward,” Sanders said.