Hillary Clinton expected to endorse Biden for Democratic presidential nomination

<br> A tweet on her account said cryptically on Tuesday: “A little hint about who the surprise guest will be for @JoeBiden’s 3 pm ET (US East Time); 3 a.m. in India) town hall today. (She’s excited.)”

The tweet was accompanied by a picture of Biden with her and former President Barack Obama.

Biden tweeted, “If you’re excited too, join us at 3 PM ET.”

Former Secretary of State Clinton, who lost the 2016 election to Trump, is among the last holdouts among Democratic Party leaders in endorsing Biden, the only major candidate left standing in the party election for the candidate to run in the presidential election this year.

Former President Barack Obama endorsed Biden, who was his vice president, on April 14.

Biden is for all practical purposes is the party’s presidential nominee with the last major candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders, dropping out.

He will sail through Democratic National Convention nominating process, once the leaders figure out how to conduct the event scheduled for August during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Sanders, a self-described socialist, has endorsed Biden, and so has Senator Elizabeth Warren, another candidate from the left for the party’s nomination, who dropped out.

Those endorsements could rally the party’s left-progressive ranks around Biden, the centrist establishment candidate.

Trump has monopolised the public discourse with his daily briefings with the White House Coronavirus Task Force, while Biden is shut out unable to hold rallies.

The town hall meetings are one way for him to get exposure in the national media.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)

–IANS<br>al/pgh<br>