Reid holds out on endorsing Clinton

When Hillary Clinton meets with Senate Democrats on Tuesday, there will be one especially prominent lawmaker in the room who has yet to endorse her: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.

The Nevada Democrat declined to explicitly endorse the former secretary of during an interview with Nevada public radio station KNPR on Monday, though Reid strongly suggested that he would soon. Clinton is visiting House and Senate Democrats on Tuesday in what’s likely to be a circus-like atmosphere on Capitol Hill.


“I’m really a Clinton fan. But right now I’ve not endorsed anyone. I’m going to an event for Hillary in a few days, but I’m going to do my endorsement later,” Reid said. Asked when he will do so, Reid replied: “It shouldn’t be too much longer.”

Citing his official neutrality in the 2008 primary between Clinton and Barack Obama until June 2008, a Democratic source said Reid has not endorsed yet “out of respect to his other friends.” That’s a marked contrast from the rest of Senate Democratic leadership, who are vocally backing Clinton at this stage in the presidential election.

“I have endorsed Hillary and I think she’s going to be a great president,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), No. 4 in leadership, in an interview last week.

In the Monday radio interview, Reid heaped praise on Clinton, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who Reid called a “progressive guy and that’s an understatement.”

“You know there are a few other candidates. Got a very fine governor from Massach — Maryland, O’Malley who’s been in Nevada lots of times,” Reid said. Sanders is “one of the nicest people I have in the Senate Democratic Caucus and I like him a lot. But anyway I’m more of a Clinton fan at this stage.”

Reid also predicted that a Democrat is likely to win the White House, but he didn’t explicitly say it would be Clinton.

“We’ll pick up enough seats to retake the [Democratic] majority and then I think the odds are, with all the infighting with the Republicans as to whether they like Trump more than they like Bush, I think that we should have a Democratic president,” Reid said.