Jeff Merkley became the first sitting U.S. senator to endorse the presidential bid of his colleague Bernie Sanders, calling the Vermont independent “a determined leader.”
“Bernie is a determined leader in taking on the concentration of campaign cash from the mega-wealthy that is corrupting the vision of opportunity embedded in our Constitution,” the Oregon Democrat wrote Wednesday in a New York Times op-ed.
Merkley called Sanders’ primary rival Hillary Clinton “a strong and capable president,” but said Sanders will “rethink” Americans politics and the economy.
“People know that we don’t just need better policies, we need a wholesale rethinking of how our economy and our politics work, and for whom they work,” he said.
Sanders’ opposition to trade deals with nations that underpay their workers as well as his support for addressing climate change make him the ideal leader, Merkley said.
“It has been noted that Bernie has an uphill battle ahead of him to win the Democratic nomination,” he said. “But his leadership on these issues and his willingness to fearlessly stand up to the powers that be have galvanized a grass-roots movement.”
More than 80% of current Democratic senators have endorsed Clinton, including Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.