Joe Biden holds rally in LA on Super Tuesday as results roll in

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden rallied together supporters in Los Angeles on Super Tuesday as the race for the Democratic nomination consolidated around him and Bernie Sanders.

Biden spoke to a crowd of about 200 supporters at Baldwin Hills Recreation Center, as results from California and 13 other states, as well as American Samoa, poured in.

“It’s a good night,” Biden said. “And it seems to be getting even better. They don’t call it Super Tuesday for nothing.”

The former vice president claimed victory in nine states: Alabama, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Minnesota, Virginia, Massachusetts and Texas, but lost California to Sen. Bernie Sanders, according to The Associated Press. According to The New York Times, Biden also appeared to be winning Maine.

Sanders won Colorado, Vermont and Utah on Tuesday in what appears to have become a race largely between Biden and Sanders. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who was once considered a top candidate early in the race, lost to Sanders and Biden in her home state of Massachusetts.

Biden is the third Democratic candidate to make a stop in Los Angeles leading up to Super Tuesday, following both Sanders and Warren. California holds 495 delegates, around a quarter of the delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination.

Biden attributed some of his wins on Super Tuesday to former Democratic presidential candidates who endorsed him after ending their campaigns.

“We won Minnesota because of Amy Klobuchar,” Biden said. “And we’re doing well in Texas because of Beto O’Rourke. And that’s why I felt proud, so incredibly proud that Mayor Pete (Buttigieg) has endorsed me as well.”

Biden assured supporters that, as president, he would create a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, make community college free and reduce the cost of college and student debt.

Biden added that the U.S. needs a president who can heal the divide in the country and beat President Donald Trump.

“We are better than this president,” Biden said. “So get back up and take back this country. There’s not a single thing we can’t do.”

Marc Honaker, a former member of Buttigieg’s campaign who attended the event, said to the Daily Bruin that Buttigieg’s endorsement of Biden meant a lot to him. He added that he sided with Biden because he doesn’t think Sanders is electable.

“I believe (Sanders’) heart’s in the right place, but he will be labeled as a socialist and communist,” Honaker said.

Kurt Klaus, a third-year American literature and cognitive science student at UCLA, said he was supposed to attend a club meeting, but decided to go to the rally after hearing about it that afternoon.

“I was like, ‘You know what, I’m going to go to this Joe Biden rally because I can always go to a club meeting but I just wanted to go to a rally because I thought it’d be cool to be around people who would support a cause and to see someone who’s running for president,’” Klaus said.

Scott Klaus, a third-year economics and German language and culture student at UCLA, attended with his twin brother. He said he voted for Klobuchar before she dropped out Monday.

“I like what (Sanders) has to say, but in terms of what I think America needs right now, Joe Biden may be a good (candidate) immediately,” Scott Klaus said.

Kurt Klaus also said he likes Sanders’ policies and would be fine if he was in office, but added that he is unsure whether Sanders can beat Trump.

“I think Biden could probably get the swing state vote better and in terms of having a safer bet for someone to beat Trump, which is my main concern. I think Biden has a better chance than (Sanders),” Kurt Klaus said.

He added that he thinks Biden might be able to compromise on important issues.

“I think for this point in our country, like with everything being so divided, I mean, I’m not going to say Biden can bring everyone together or anything like that, but I think we need to start moving towards a lot more compromise,” Kurt Klaus said.