Democratic Party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Friday received an endorsement from former Clinton Administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich.
“I endorse Bernie Sanders for president of the United States,” Reich wrote in a Facebook post. “He’s leading a movement to reclaim America for the many, not the few. And such a political mobilization – a ‘political revolution,’ as he puts it – is the only means by which we can get the nation back from the moneyed interests that now control so much of our economy and democracy.
“This extraordinary concentration of income, wealth, and political power at the very top imperils all else – our economy, our democracy, the revival of the American middle class, the prospects for the poor and for people of color, the necessity of slowing and reversing climate change, and a sensible foreign policy not influenced by the ‘military-industrial complex,’ as President Dwight Eisenhower once called it. It is the fundamental prerequisite: We have little hope of achieving positive change on any front unless the American people are once again in control,” he continued.
“I have the deepest respect and admiration for Hillary Clinton, and if she wins the Democratic primary I’ll work my heart out to help her become president. But I believe Bernie Sanders is the agent of change this nation so desperately needs,” Reich concluded.
Sanders welcomed the endorsement, saying in a statement, “Bob Reich was one of the most effective secretaries of labor in modern American history. He is one of the foremost economic thinkers in this country focusing on income inequality and the needs of working people. In 2002, he ran a great campaign for governor of Massachusetts. I am proud and delighted to have the support of Robert Reich.”
Reich – a professor and author – was secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997. He also served in the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.