Joe Biden compared Pete Buttigieg to his late son as the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor threw his weight behind him on Super Tuesday eve.
“He reminds me of my son Beau,” the two-term vice president said of Buttigieg during an endorsement press conference in Dallas on Monday. “I know that may not mean much to most people, but, to me, it’s the highest compliment I can give any man or woman.”
Biden, who said Buttigieg had “a backbone like a ramrod,” lost his son, the former Delaware attorney general and a veteran like Buttigieg, to brain cancer at the age of 46 in 2015.
Joe Biden said Pete Buttigieg reminds him of his son, Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46. “I know that may not mean much to most people, but to me it’s the highest compliment I can give any man or woman.” https://t.co/OqBhPUBFtB pic.twitter.com/Pwa1LMn9po
— CNN (@CNN) March 3, 2020
Buttigieg described Biden “as unfailingly decent,” saying the country needed “to bring back dignity to the White House.”
“I’m looking for a leader. I’m looking for a president who will draw out what is best in each of us, and I’m encouraging everybody who is part of my campaign to join me because we have found that leader in Vice President Biden,” he said.
Buttigieg joined Amy Klobuchar and Beto O’Rourke in endorsing Biden on Monday before Democrats in 14 states and one U.S. territory weigh in on the primary on Tuesday. The coalescing of support behind Biden is a snub to Bernie Sanders, the front-runner for the nomination, who is set to scoop up the majority of 1,357 delegates on offer on Super Tuesday.
The idea of being up against the establishment didn’t seem to bother the socialist Vermont senator, having spent most of the 2016 and 2020 cycle spinning that position.
“We have shown from day one taking on the establishment,” he told CNN Monday evening. “Let me be very clear: It is no surprise they do not want me to become president.”
