Former Obama Treasury secretary endorses Biden

Jack Lew, who served as chief of staff and Treasury secretary under former President Obama, announced in a CNBC interview on Monday that he’s endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race.

“I’ve known Joe Biden for 25 years as senator, as vice president and as a person,” Lew said. “I think the times we’re in call for somebody with both the heart and the experience to address some very serious challenges. Joe Biden has both the heart to care and the experience to lead.”

“He has demonstrated his deep concern for an economy that works and works for working Americans, for restoring American values, and to restore America’s leadership as the global and economic leader that we need to be,” Lew added. “He’s also shown he surrounds himself with people who really are the leaders of the next generation and that he has the ability to reach across party lines and within the Democratic Party to all parts of the Democratic Party. Candidly, he has the experience and the ability to make Donald Trump a one-term president.”

Lew is not the first member of Obama’s Cabinet to endorse the former president’s vice president. John Kerry, who served as secretary of State, and Tom Vilsack, who served as Agriculture secretary, have also endorsed Biden.

But not every former Obama administration official has come out in support of Biden. Former Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee and Reggie Love, the former special assistant to the president, have endorsed South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Obama himself has not made an endorsement, and many other peoples in his administration also have yet to publicly back a candidate.

Biden, 77, has consistently led in national polls of the Democratic presidential primary field but has faced questions about his age. On CNBC, Lew was asked about criticisms that Biden is not as energetic now as he was while he was vice president.

“I’ve seen Joe Biden over many years always demonstrate both the capacity and the endurance to get things done. I don’t think that’s any different today,” Lew replied.