Actor Danny Glover 'Feeling the Bern' in South Carolina

GREENVILLE, South Carolina— -- Actor Danny Glover introduced Bernie Sanders at a large rally in Greenville, South Carolina, Sunday night. Glover endorsed Sanders earlier this month, but this appearance onstage was his first side-by-side with the Vermont senator.

"What a moment, what a moment," Glover said as he took the stage. "You can feel the Bern, don't you feel it?"

Coming off a loss in the Nevada caucuses Saturday, the Sanders campaign staff is now bracing for back-to-back losses, as the the Vermont senator continues to lag behind Hillary Clinton in the polls in South Carolina, which holds the nation's next primary on Saturday. Their hope is to exceed expectations here, especially with the African American vote, which so far has largely and almost uniformly backed Clinton.

As such, Sanders spent the morning courting these coveted voters at a church in Columbia. He was accompanied there by former NAACP head Ben Jealous, who is also backing him. The campaign is clearly hoping these high profile African American personalities will help move the needle.

With more than 5,000 people in attendance, the evening rally was Sanders’ biggest in the South Carolina to date. The actor and long time activist for progressive politics was the highlight. Glover spoke about South Carolina's history with slavery and ongoing struggle against institutional racism and poverty.

"We know that is the reality. We want to change that. This is why this movement is here," Glover said. "It is amazing to know that you are building not only a movement, but you are building that movement on the stage of a presidential election. We have never had that opportunity before. We are going to change this country."

Glover backed Ralph Nader's third-party candidacy in 2000 and participated in the Occupy Wall Street Movement in Oakland, California. Sanders in turn thanked Glover for his support.

"What Danny has done is use that celebrity status to fight for race and economic status in our country and I thank him," Sanders said. He added during his remarks that his campaign is "gaining momentum every day."

"On Saturday, South Carolina has the opportunity to make American history and I hope you will," he continued. "We may as well do something that people will remember decades from today."