Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid announced Wednesday that he will endorse Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary, and said he thinks Clinton should be “the first president of the United States that’s a female.”
“I think the middle class would be better served by Hillary,” Reid told CNN in an interview. “I think that my work with her over the years has been something that I have looked upon with awe. She was the first lady. She started the trend toward looking to do something about healthcare. She understood the issue well, she was the front on the healthcare during that administration.”
Reid is now the highest-ranking Democrat supporting the former secretary of state’s primary campaign. In his endorsement, he encouraged the party to unite behind Clinton as she heads into contentious primary battled with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Although Reid endorsed Clinton, the minority leader and Sanders have a close working relationship through their time in the Senate together. Reid reportedly called Sanders personally to deliver the news of his endorsement and said that it was a “wonderful call” in which Sanders was “so magnanimous, so kind and courteous.”
The Nevada senator’s endorsement comes four days after the Nevada caucus, a contest in which Clinton beat Sanders by five points.
