Bernie Sanders talks about Hillary Clinton at a campaign event on Monday. MoveOn endorses Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders on Tuesday scored the endorsement of MoveOn, the liberal advocacy organization announced in a statement.

The Vermont senator prevailed in online balloting that ran from last Thursday through Sunday night, winning 78.6 percent of the vote out of 340,665 ballots cast — both records in terms of most votes cast and largest margin of victory. Just 14.6 percent voted for Hillary Clinton, and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley earned 0.9 percent, with 5.9 percent of ballots in favor of not endorsing a particular candidate this time.


“This is a massive vote in favor of Bernie Sanders, showing that grassroots progressives across the country are excited and inspired by his message and track record of standing up to big money and corporate interests to reclaim our democracy for the American people,” MoveOn.org Political Action Executive Director Ilya Sheyman said in a statement. “MoveOn members are feeling the Bern. We will mobilize aggressively to add our collective people power to the growing movement behind the Sanders campaign, starting with a focus on voter turnout in Iowa and New Hampshire.”

MoveOn members previously voted to back candidates twice before — Howard Dean in the 2004 cycle and Barack Obama in 2008. Candidates now only receive an endorsement if they get more than two-thirds support from members. In the case of Dean, the Vermont governor won a mere plurality of 44 percent; in 2008, the group said that its endorsement of Obama (who earned 70 percent to Clinton's 30 percent) was the first of its kind.

"I’m proud to have MoveOn and its community of millions of members join our people-powered campaign,” Sanders said in a statement released by the group. “MoveOn has spent more than 17 years bringing people together to fight for progressive change and stand up against big money interests. MoveOn's fight to give the American people a voice in our political system was reflected in the group's internal democratic process. I'm humbled by their support and welcome MoveOn's members to the political revolution."

The endorsement comes as Sanders looks to distinguish himself as the more authentic and credible candidate in the Democratic race on issues related to income inequality and other economic issues, a point that Vice President Joe Biden mentioned in a CNN interview aired Monday night.

"Hillary's focus has been other things up to now, and that's been Bernie's—no one questions Bernie's authenticity on those issues," Biden told CNN's "AC360." In a Tuesday morning interview on NBC's "Today," Biden said he meant that Hillary Clinton was previously more focused on more foreign policy issues.