The real reason Bernie Sanders formally endorsed Joe Biden today

Bernie Sanders did the right thing last week when he dropped out of the primary race after realizing he was going to lose. He didn’t endorse Joe Biden at the time, but he praised Biden and acknowledged that Biden would be the nominee. Now Bernie has circled back today and done the right thing again, formally endorsing Biden in exact words. So what’s going on?

Bernie Sanders appeared alongside Joe Biden today on the Biden campaign podcast. Bernie formally endorsed Biden, and urged all of his supporters to vote for Biden. During the endorsement, Bernie stressed Donald Trump’s disastrous handling of the coronavirus crisis, and the clear need to replace Trump with Joe Biden. Sanders stressed his disgust with Trump’s recent threats against Dr. Fauci, suggesting that it may have been what prompted Sanders to go ahead and endorse Biden now instead of waiting for the convention.

There has also been some bizarre drama playing out this past week when it comes to certain Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign senior advisers, who have begun viciously attacking Joe Biden. Sanders is still paying them through the end of the election cycle, but it wasn’t clear if they were still his employees who still still spoke for him, or if they were merely former employees getting severance pay. Bernie certainly answered that today with his endorsement of Biden. Given the timing, it’s entirely possible that Bernie did this as a way of disavowing their antics.

In any case, this has to be seen as a great day for those who stand against Donald Trump. It’s only April. We already have a Democratic nominee to rally around – and he’s now been endorsed by the second place candidate. Bernie Sanders’ prompt endorsement of Joe Biden also frees up the likes of Elizabeth Warren and President Obama to jump in with their endorsements whenever they think the time is right.