Vincent Gray talks with former mayor and D.C. Councilmember Marion Barry in October 2010. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Marion Barry formally endorsed Mayor Vince Gray this afternoon in the basement of a Ward 8 church.

“I should be home resting,” Barry told the crowd of reporters and supporters, referencing the recent blood infection that landed him in the hospital for weeks. “But there’s too much at stake in this election.”

The Ward 8 Councilmember said it’s not time to elect a mayor for “on the job training.” “We don’t need an amateur trying to manage this money,” he added of the city’s multi-billion dollar budget.

“Vince Gray cares about the people.”

“Vince Gray specializes in results.”

“He’s committed to working with the private sector.”

“Vince is gonna be working to keep D.C. residents in the city. In particular, black working class families.”

“Vince Gray has transformed our schools.”

“He’s prepared to work as hard as he can” to get families out of shelters, motels and recreation centers.

“He recognizes that the city has to improve its record on minority-owned businesses.”

Barry also addressed the federal investigation into a shadow campaign that benefitted Gray’s 2010 campaign. “I know Vince Gray as a man of integrity,” he said, adding that he knows how the U.S. Attorney works. “I know he’s not about breaking the law.”

“In America, you’re supposed to be innocent until proven guilty,” Barry said to loud applause. “The climate in this city is your guilty until you’re proven to be innocent. That’s not right. I talked to Vince this morning and he’s determined to be here, to stick it out.”

As many in the crowd chanted four more years, a man near the stage said under his breath “he’s a criminal.”

Gray thanked Barry for his endorsement, citing the many times they worked together before he was mayor and adding that he looks forward to building on the progress he’s made in his first term: “I look forward to working with the Councilmember from Ward 8 and benefitting from [our] collaborative relationship.”

Barry then put on a Gray campaign shirt: “I’m proud to wear this shirt.”

But when asked by The Post’s Mike DeBonis if he’d support the democratic candidate regardless of who it is, he responded affirmatively. He did, however, not seem very confident in the challengers’ abilities: “If you want a surgeon, you don’t call a plumber. Mayor Gray knows how to operate.”