Bernie Sanders on Wednesday met for breakfast with civil rights leader Al Sharpton in Harlem.
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Sharpton said he plans to make a endorsement “probably” after he meets with Sanders’ rival, Hillary Clinton, next Thursday. “Hillary Clinton will do better in SC, but she won’t blow Bernie Sanders away”. Clinton is known for her close ties to many African American communities that have backed her in previous elections. Barack Obama met with the preacher and television personality in 2008, according to the Daily Beast, which reported Tuesday afternoon on the upcoming get-together.
Al Sharpton had breakfast with then Sen.
They include Killer Mike, an Atlanta-based rapper who has introduced Sanders at rallies and worked the spin room for him at Democratic debates; Cornel West, an academic whose harsh assessment of President Obama’s tenure has drawn controversy; and Nina Turner, a former state senator in OH with national standing in the Democratic Party who previously backed Clinton. Sharpton says the two men talked about affirmative action, police brutality and the water disaster in Flint, Michigan.
But Mr. Sanders’s campaign has made some inroads of late, including getting the recent endorsement of Benjamin Jealous, a former head of the N.A.A.C.P. Mr. Jealous, who is now campaigning for Mr. Sanders, sat at a separate table at Sylvia’s on Wednesday, meeting with Jane Sanders, the senator’s wife.
Yet a nomination from Sharpton (and those among his influence) would provide a major boost for whichever presidential candidate receives it. After all, as NPR points out, more than half of the voters who participated in South Carolina’s 2008 primary were black.
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“My concern is that in January of next year, for the first time in American history, a black family will be moving out of the White House”. Bill Perkins. Both of them have endorsed Sanders. “It was critical in this moment for him to come meet with our senior statesmen here in Harlem”.
