Harry Reid backs Hillary Clinton for president
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid endorsed Hillary Clinton Wednesday, giving her support from a high-profile Democrat who had previously stayed on the sidelines in the Democratic primary.
"I think the middle class would be better served by Hillary," Reid told CNN, which first reported the endorsement, in an interview.
Clinton won the caucuses in Reid's home state of Nevada last Saturday, defeating Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders by 6 points. She is leading in the polls by double digits heading into the next contest, South Carolina, which votes on Saturday.
Reid praised Clinton's tenure as first lady and her accomplishments as a U.S. senator from New York, adding that he remembers his interactions with her over the years "with awe."
"I think that my work with her over the years has been something that I have looked upon with awe," he said. "She was the first lady. She started the trend toward looking to do something about health care."
The Democratic senate leader also made reference to the historic nature of Clinton's candidacy, saying, "I also think she's the woman to be the first president of the United States that's a female."
The Reid endorsement underscores the extent to which the Democratic establishment is firmly behind Clinton in the Democratic race. Sanders, a longtime Senator, has not received endorsements from any of his Senate colleagues; meanwhile, Clinton has been endorsed by more than 40 of the 44 Democratic senators. The Democratic senators who have not endorsed are Elizabeth Warren, Jon Tester, Robert Menendez and Ed Markey.
Reid said he called Sanders personally to let him know that he would be backing Clinton, and that it was "a call of friendship." In the CNN interview, he did not criticize Sanders or suggest the Vermont senator should drop out of the race.
As for his previous suggestion that the Democratic nomination fight could go all the way until the convention in July, Reid said: "I don't know about that, you know I had some meetings today and I think the race is moving along very quickly so we'll have to see, we'll have to see what happens next month."
