'The Door Is Open, Come On In,' Sanders Says to Buttigieg and Klobuchar Supporters as Centrists Line Up Behind Biden

During a rally in Saint Paul, Minnesota on the eve of Super Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders invited supporters of Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar to join his multi-generational grassroots movement after the two Democrats dropped out of the 2020 presidential race and joined forces with former Vice President Joe Biden.

"While others are gathered tonight to fight our movement, we are gathered to fight for somebody we don't know."
--Rep. Ilhan Omar

"Tonight, I want to open the door to Amy's supporters, to Pete's supporters," Sanders said to cheers from the crowd gathered inside the Saint Paul RiverCentre.

"I know that there are political differences," said the Vermont senator, "but I also know that virtually all of Amy's support and Pete's support understand that we have got to move toward a government which believes in justice, not greed. And that our government must be based upon principles of economic justice, social justice, racial justice, environmental justice."

"So to all of Amy and Pete's millions of supporters," Sanders added, "the door is open, come on in!"

Sanders' rally in Minnesota, one of 14 states set to vote Tuesday, came just hours after Buttigieg, Klobuchar, former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Beto O'Rourke threw their support behind Biden Monday in what was described as "a political rescue mission" for the former vice president and an extraordinary last-minute effort to stop the Vermont senator's momentum.

Speaking to reporters earlier Monday, Sanders said he was not surprised by the wave of endorsements for Biden.

"The establishment will rally around the establishment candidate," Sanders said. "That's the simple reality."

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who endorsed Sanders last October, alluded to Buttigieg and Klobuchar's decision to embrace Biden during the event in Saint Paul Monday evening.

"While others are gathered tonight to fight our movement," Omar said, "we are gathered to fight for somebody we don't know."

During a rally alongside Biden in Dallas, Texas on Monday, Klobuchar characterized the former vice president's campaign as a "home" for those who are "tired of the extremes."

But Faiz Shakir, Sanders' campaign manager, said Klobuchar's remarks represented a promise of more "status quo politics" that "will not deliver the change we need."

"I am tired of extreme wealth inequality, extreme corporate greed and monopolization, extreme risk to the planet from climate change," Shakir tweeted Monday night.