WASHINGTON —?Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden live on CNN on March 10.
Yang, who is now a political commentator for CNN, called Biden “the right man for the job to help us not just defeat Donald Trump, but govern the country in the years ahead.”
“I believe that Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee and I’ve always said I’m going to support whoever the nominee is,” Yang said. “So I hereby am endorsing Joe Biden to be not just the nominee for the Democratic Party but the next president of the United States.”
Yang praised Biden’s rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, as “an inspiration” but said that “the math says Joe is our prohibitive nominee.”
When he ended his own campaign, Yang told supporters he had done the math and did not see a path to secure the nomination.
“We need to bring the party together. We need to start working on defeating Donald Trump in the fall,” he said this week.
“Andrew Yang is one of the brightest minds there is when it comes to the challenges we face in the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” said Biden, who won the Michigan, Missouri and Mississippi primaries on March 10. “I’m honored to have his endorsement — and look forward to working with him to ensure every worker can succeed in the changing 21st-century economy.”
Yang, whose campaign slogan was MATH (Make America Think Harder), has told CNN that he would be “honored” to be the nominee’s running mate or to serve in some other capacity in a Democratic administration.
Biden has garnered the support of nine other former candidates — former Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, former Rep. John Delaney of Maryland, Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
Three former candidates, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, former Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska, and self-help guru Marianne Williamson, have endorsed Sanders.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has suspended her campaign but has not made an endorsement. Another former candidate, former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, endorsed Warren before she dropped out.
The other former candidates remain uncommitted.
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is still in the race but has only two delegates and did not qualify for the March 15 debate, which was beween Biden and Sanders.
In the initially diverse Democratic field, Gabbard, Yang and Harris were the only Asian Pacific Islander candidates.