Democratic presidential candidate Joseph R. Biden said he would seek to make former White House hopeful Pete Buttigieg part of his administration if elected president.
Mr. Biden, the former vice president and a top-tier candidate among Democrats running for the White House, revealed as much on the heels of Mr. Buttigieg exiting the race Sunday.
“I did speak to Pete Buttigieg a couple days ago to encourage him to stay engaged because he has enormous talent, and I indicated to him that if I became the nominee, I’d come and ask him to be part of an administration,” Mr. Biden said Monday during a campaign stop at Texas Southern University in Houston. “He’d be engaged in moving things forward.”
Speaking to KHOU 11 News, Mr. Biden also praised Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Democrat, as reports emerged about her similarly suspending her own presidential campaign.
“She is also a great talent,” he said of the senator.
Mr. Biden subsequently held a campaign rally later Monday in Dallas during which both Mr. Buttigieg and Ms. Klobuchar officially endorsed his candidacy for president.
Announced on the eve of Super Tuesday, when voters in 14 states cast ballots in primary elections, the endorsements could potentially give Mr. Biden’s campaign a boost past Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent, as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination to run against President Trump in November.
Mr. Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, suspended his White House campaign after placing fourth in South Carolina’s presidential primary Saturday.
Ms. Klobuchar ended her campaign the next day, effectively narrowing the once-crowded pool of top-tier Democratic candidates to only a handful of contenders: Mr. Biden, Mr. Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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