Samantha Power votes for Biden, praises his ’empathy and decency’

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power on Super Tuesday announced her endorsement of former Vice President Joe Biden, praising what she called his “empathy and decency.”

Power, a professor at Harvard Kennedy School and a Massachusetts resident, tweeted Tuesday that she had voted for Biden despite policies she admired from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

“The foundations of a progressive policy platform are empathy and decency, which @JoeBiden embodies to a truly rare extent,” Power tweeted Tuesday. “These qualities are also the antithesis of the narcissism and cruelty of @realDonaldTrump. The contrast will be stark.”

The foundations of a progressive policy platform are empathy and decency, which @JoeBiden embodies to a truly rare extent. These qualities are also the antithesis of the narcissism and cruelty of @realDonaldTrump. The contrast will be stark.

— Samantha Power (@SamanthaJPower) March 3, 2020

“@JoeBiden is running not to go back in time or to ‘unite’ w/ a @GOP that now cares more about itself than the country,” she added. “He is running to bring America to a place where we care for one another, where everyone is seen and included & where government has your back when you stumble.”

.@JoeBiden is running not to go back in time or to “unite” w/ a @GOP that now cares more about itself than the country. He is running to bring America to a place where we care for one another, where everyone is seen and included & where government has your back when you stumble.

— Samantha Power (@SamanthaJPower) March 3, 2020

Power went on to recount learning that Biden gave out his personal cellphone number to people he met who had suffered “great personal loss.”

Power, who served as ambassador from 2013 to 2017, is the latest of several Obama administration officials to endorse the former vice president, including former White House chief of staff Denis McDonough and former national security adviser Susan Rice.

Biden also secured the endorsements of several former competitors for the Democratic nomination ahead of the Super Tuesday primaries, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas).