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Election 2020
The Associated Press
Washington

Rev. Jesse Jackson endorses Bernie Sanders for president

Sen. Bernie Sanders and the Rev. Jesse Jackson
Sen. Bernie Sanders waves to guests after being interviewed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson during the 2016 presidential campaign on March 12, 2016 in Chicago.
Scott Olson | Getty Images 2016

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Updated: 6:20 p.m.

Sen. Bernie Sanders announced Sunday that civil rights icon Jesse Jackson is formally backing his presidential campaign.

Jackson appeared with Sanders during a campaign stop in Grand Rapids, Mich.

In a statement released by Sanders' campaign, Jackson said Biden had not reached out to him for endorsement and Sanders had. He also said he chose Sanders after the senator's campaign offered responses on 13 issues Jackson raised, including protecting voting rights, increasing funding for historically black colleges and universities and committing to putting African Americans on the Supreme Court.

The senator and Jackson appeared together before thousands of cheering supporters at a downtown plaza, where Sanders said Jackson “has broken down more barriers than others can even dream of” while blazing a path against racism that helped propel Barack Obama to the White House.

“If there was no Jesse Jackson, in my view, there never would have been a President Barack Obama,” Sanders said.

“Let me just say to Rev. Jackson: It’s one of the honors of my life to be supported by a man who has put his life on the line for the last 50 years fighting for justice,” he added.

Jackson and Obama's relationship has not been without its past issues, including in 2008 when Jackson apologized for saying Obama had been “talking down to black people.”

Addressing the Michigan rally, Jackson stayed focused on Sanders, saying, “I stand with Bernie Sanders today because he stood with me” and adding that the senator “never lost taste for justice for people.”

Sanders upset Hillary Clinton during Michigan's Democratic primary in 2016 and noted that Jackson won the state during his own bid in the 1988 presidential primary.

“Tuesday, there is going to be a very, very important primary here in Michigan,” Sanders said. “Back in 1988, Jesse Jackson won the state. In 2016, I won the state. And, on Tuesday, if we stick together, we bring our friends out to vote, we're gonna win it again.”

Jackson brushed aside some voters’ uneasiness about Sanders’ avowed democratic socialist ideology, saying Sanders will defend democratic values and that issues important to poor and minority people wouldn't have been prioritized in the presidential race without him.

“Thank God for Bernie Sanders,” Jackson said.

Meanwhile, former Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday received the endorsement of California senator and former Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

The endorsements come before the next round of primaries, with six states voting Tuesday, including Michigan.