A South Carolina group that once supported Kamala Harris’ now-defunct presidential campaign has turned its eyes to Joe Biden instead, throwing their endorsement behind the former Vice President.
According to CBS News, the group The Reckoning Crew, composed of some three dozen Black women activists, announced on Tuesday that they would be endorsing Biden in the upcoming presidential election.
“It’s time for us to unite as one and put all of our energy behind the candidate who will not only beat Donald Trump but knows how to fix what he’s broken on day one,” the group’s founder, former Richland County councilwoman Bernice Scott, said according to the report. “And from there, we are confident Joe will continue to build on the history he made with Barack Obama.”
As CBS News notes, the group’s support is a good boost to Biden’s campaign, given that the South Carolina primary plays such a distinct role in determining who the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee will be due to the high percentage of Black voters.
Scott told CBS News that familiarity is important to her, and while Harris’ departure from the race surprised the group, Biden drew support because of “a connection, and because he worked well with President Obama for the last eight years he was there.”
A late November CBS News battleground tracker poll puts Biden ahead of two of his closest competitors Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, by a landslide, with 45% of Democratic likely voters backed Biden as the first choice for nominee. Warren and Sanders trailed behind with 17% and 15% respectively.