Rashida Tlaib joins Ocasio-Cortez, Omar in endorsing Bernie Sanders

When Sanders took the stage, he was quick to compliment his newest endorser.

“Congresswoman Tlaib has been a leader,” Sanders told the crowd in Detroit. “Rashida has been a leader in the fight for decent jobs, a leader in the fight for affordable housing, a leader in the fight for a clean border and she has shown that she is prepared to take on corporate greed and corruption and stand with the working class of this country.”

“I will look to her for her leadership in Congress under a Sanders’ administration,” Sanders added.

Before the event, Sanders and Tlaib announced that they would each donate $5,000 from their campaigns to Cass Tech’s marching band, which is raising money to perform at next year’s National Memorial Day parade in Washington. The band played at the rally, as did former White Stripes frontman Jack White, a Detroit native.

Sanders now has endorsements from three members of the “Squad,” a group of four young, progressive lawmakers of color who have helped push the Democratic Party left on a number of policy debates. Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley, the lone holdout, remains uncommitted in the Democratic primary.

The Democratic Socialists of America, the country’s largest socialist group, applauded Tlaib’s decision to back Sanders.

“Just as Wayne State University went tuition-free for all students from the City of Detroit, we need to make college tuition-free for everybody across the country and cancel all student debt,” Kristin Cervero, nationally elected co-chair of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, said in a statement. “As democratic socialists, Rashida Tlaib and Bernie Sanders are dedicated to making public college tuition-free for all.”