Elizabeth Warren Endorses Joe Biden: 'When You Disagree, He'll Listen'

Her announcement follows Sen. Bernie Sanders’ on Monday and former President Barack Obama’s on Tuesday. Warren’s support had been a foregone conclusion, but she left the timing of her announcement up to Biden’s team, according to people familiar with the matter. There was no holdup or demand for concessions, these people said.

The process of securing prominent endorsements for Biden has been underway for some time, people close to the campaign said, but some Democrats said it was important to give Sanders space to endorse on his own terms, out of respect for his campaign and his supporters, whom Biden must now win over. Obama’s endorsement made repeated overtures to Sanders and his backers.

During the primary campaign, Biden criticized Warren as having an “elitist attitude” and repeatedly jabbed at Sanders for not being a card-carrying Democrat. Warren and Sanders were also sharply critical and still differ with Biden on many issues — but their endorsement announcements this week were as positive and helpful as one could hope for from ideological opponents.

Two swing-state senators, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Gary Peters of Michigan, also formally backed Biden on Wednesday, as did Valerie Jarrett, a former senior adviser to Obama.

Since Warren ended her own campaign, she and Biden have spoken multiple times about policy issues, including Biden’s plan to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

In late March, Biden endorsed forgiving at least $10,000 in federal student loans and credited Warren for the proposal. Over the weekend, he said during his podcast that he supported immediately increasing Social Security payments by $200 a month, another proposal that Warren had championed.

“One thing I appreciate about Joe Biden is that he will always tell you where he stands,” Warren said in her endorsement video. “When you disagree, he’ll listen — not just listen, but really hear you and treat you with respect, no matter where you’re coming from. And he has shown throughout this campaign that when you come up with new facts or a good argument, he’s not too afraid or too proud to be persuaded.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .