After his sweeping victory in the New Hampshire primary, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday had breakfast with civil rights activist Al Sharpton in New York City, an attempt to broaden appeal among black Americans.
The two met around 10 a.m. at Sylvia's – the famed Harlem restaurant where Sharpton sat down with then-Sen. Obama during his 2008 bid – and talked for 20 minutes about affirmative action, police brutality and the water crisis in Flint, Mich., according to CNN.
"The focus was to deal with the litany of issues that African-American and Latino voters are facing," Sharpton reportedly told MSNBC's Tamron Hall.
“My concern is that in January of next year, for the first time in American history, a black family will be moving out of the White House. I do not want black concerns to be moved out with them," Sharpton said after the meeting, which was reportedly requested by Sanders.
The Vermont independent senator is making a much-needed yet not-so-subtle attempt to shore up support among African-Americans as he prepares for the Feb. 27 Democratic primary in South Carolina, where more than half of registered Democrats are black, according to The New York Post.
Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton currently leads Sanders in South Carolina by double digits and is favored to win the state's black vote, however, Sanders' promises of political revolution and strong appeal among younger voters could easily shake things up, according to NPR.
Sharpton told reporters after breakfast that he plans to meet with Clinton next week and will likely make an endorsement soon after.
The meeting came the day after Sanders stole the show in the New Hampshire primaries, winning 60.4 percent of the vote compared to Clinton's 38 percent. That's one of the widest margins in modern Democratic history.
"I think it is very important that he sent a signal that on the morning after a historic victory — it's the widest margin we've seen in the history of New Hampshire — he would come to Harlem and have breakfast with me," Sharpton said.
Sanders' win translated into a massive fundraising bump, with his campaign announcing Wednesday afternoon that it had raised about $5.2 million since the polls closed in New Hampshire on Tuesday at 7 p.m. EST.
