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Rep. Donna Shalala Endorses Joe Biden For President

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – U.S. Rep. Donna Shalala has finally announced who she is backing in the Democratic race for the presidency.

"I'm going to vote for Joe Biden," said Shalala.

Shalala made the announcement on Sunday's edition of "Facing South Florida with Jim DeFede."

The Democratic congresswoman pointed to her time working with Biden as the reason for throwing her support behind the former vice president.

"I worked with him on gun safety in the Clinton administration, we banned assault weapons. I've worked with him on health care. I've worked with him [with the] Violence Against Women Act," she said.

But above all, Shalala said, is that Biden not only "has a big heart, but more importantly, he is a steady hand," which is needed during this coronavirus pandemic.

"In this environment, we need a steady hand. Particularly one that's committed to science and who understands the scientific issues that we are faced with, and the environmental issues, and can run the government," she said.

Shalala said she waited some time to make her announcement because there were so many other candidates in the race.

Now that the field has whittled down to Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, Shalala said picking Biden is a "no-brainer, I think, for people in South Florida."

She then briefly discussed Sanders – without naming him.

"The other candidate, it took him a long time to figure that Juan Guaido was the legitimate leader of Venezuela," she said. "And frankly, his comments on the Cuba and the Cuban regime are unacceptable."

As for the rest of her "Facing South Florida" interview, the former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Bill Clinton administration discussed the coronavirus outbreak and the current administration's response to the pandemic.

Watch the full interview in the video player below:

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