After presidential hopeful Joe Biden picked up endorsements from his former competitors, Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) claimed it was part of the Democratic Party establishment’s plan to stop him from winning the nomination.
“The corporate establishment is coming together, the political establishment is coming together, and they will do anything and everything,” Sanders said.
"They are really getting nervous that working people are standing up."
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) March 2, 2020
Sen. Bernie Sanders addresses moderates consolidating behind Joe Biden, saying "it is no secret…that there is a massive effort trying to stop Bernie Sanders." https://t.co/cilZgIbOuT pic.twitter.com/eFwJv3F9eg
On Monday, Biden received endorsements from Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and former presidential hopefuls Pete Buttigieg (D-Ind.) and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas).
In an interview on ABC’s “Today Show” on Monday, co-host Savannah Guthrie asked Klobuchar to respond to the narrative that the “old school, the status quo” was “coming in to crush the resistance.”
“I saw that, and I was kind of laughing as I looked at [these] incredible, unique, and electrifying candidates that came on board yesterday in Beto O’Rourke and Mayor Pete,” Klobuchar said.
Watch the interview below:
Additionally, she said she considers the trio of former presidential candidates to be “new leaders for the party, fresh faces for the party,” and not establishment figures.
“And we’re basically saying, ‘We’ve got to win here, and that’s why we’re supporting Joe Biden,'” she added.
When Guthrie asked Klobuchar about President Donald Trump’s claim that the Democratic party was “staging a coup” against Sanders, she said the former candidates didn’t coordinate with each other about who to endorse.
“Here’s another funny thing about that, none of us had talked to each other. We came to our own decisions. I came to it in South Carolina around that time. I know the mayor came to his own decision.”
“We made the decision instead of a personal victory for ourselves, or a personal quest that this was about our country, and we need to beat Donald Trump and have someone with experience that can get things done in the White House,” she added.
Speaking about her decision to end her presidential campaign, Klobuchar said, “There literally was no push” for her to drop out. Instead, she said she decided that it was “better for the country” for her to end her White House bid and support Biden.
Responding to news that Buttigieg and Klobuchar had dropped out of the race and planned to endorse Biden, Sanders claimed that it was evidence the party establishment was “really getting nervous” about his campaign.