Bill Clinton’s Former Labor Secretary Endorses Bernie Sanders, Former Hillary Clinton Supporters Flip-Flop To Sanders

Despite Hillary Clinton’s big win in South Carolina, earning 73.5 percent of the vote, Clinton is experiencing a few notable setbacks in her quest to take over the White House. In fact, Hillary found out this week that her husband’s former Labor Secretary, Robert Reich, would not be endorsing her campaign. Instead, Reich publicly endorsed Bernie Sanders. Likewise, Clinton also lost the support of Georgia Senator Vincent Fort, who had previously endorsed the Hillary Clinton campaign. Fort announced that he is now endorses Bernie Sanders after looking over Bernie’s record and studying his positions on healthcare. Fort proclaimed that other established Democrats like himself will likely switch their support to Sanders in the near future as they get a chance to listen to him speak and realize that he is speaking on the issues that matter most to the Democratic party.

The Huffington Post reports that Bill Clinton’s former Labor Secretary, Robert Reich, has endorsed Bernie Sanders for president. Reich took to Twitter to throw his support to Sanders, noting that Sanders is working to “reclaim the many, not the few.” The tweet seems to call out Hillary for recent attacks that she is working for the establishment not the people.

I endorse Bernie Sanders for president of the United States. He’s leading a movement to reclaim America for the many, not the few.

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) February 27, 2016

The Bernie Sanders endorsement came as a surprise to many, as Reich has close ties with the Clinton family, as he previously served as Labor Secretary for former president Bill Clinton. However, it wasn’t just the Reich endorsement of Bernie Sanders that may prove problematic for Hillary Clinton and her campaign. A former Clinton supporter, a senior Georgia Senator Vincent Fort, has flip-flopped on Clinton claiming he now endorses Bernie Sanders for president. Fort had previously pledged support to Hillary Clinton, but earlier this month, Politico reports he changed his mind and began endorsing Sanders instead.

Fort notes that his change in position stemmed from the fact that he got to hear Bernie Sanders speak and that he began researching Sanders’ record and positions on healthcare. Once he did the research, Fort says he realized that Sanders position on the issues would affect his constituents more than Clinton’s core issues. Therefore, he says he had no choice but to switch his endorsement after realizing that Sanders would be the better president to deal with issues that are close to the heart of his state, such as healthcare.

“After months of looking at Bernie’s record and studying his positions on healthcare, Wall Street, predatory lending and the minimum wage, I came to the conclusion that Bernie’s position on the issues that affect my constituents in Georgia the most conform most closely to my positions.”

Fort went on to note that he believes more Democrats will switch to endorse Bernie Sanders after getting the chance to hear the candidate speak in person. He notes that if more high ranking Democrats would take a look at the issues and Sanders’ record, they may also feel the desire to switch their endorsements from Clinton to Sanders.

“As people have a chance to listen to him, to have a chance to understand that he’s speaking to the issues that are the most critical.”

It was noted that Fort isn’t the first Clinton supporter to flip-flop over to an endorsement for Bernie Sanders. In fact, back in January, the South Carolina state Representative Justin Bamberg endorsed Bernie Sanders after previously pledging support to Clinton. Bamberg is a notable supporter as he is also the lawyer for the family of Walter Scott, the African-American man who was killed by a police officer last April.

Do you think Bill Clinton’s former Labor Secretary’s endorsement of Bernie Sanders will hurt Hillary Clinton’s campaign? What about the flip-flopping of other Democratic supporters who once pledged to support Clinton but are now throwing their support to Sanders?

[Photo by Tom Lynn/AP Photo]