Nu OriginsFormer Vice President Joe Biden announced Thursday that he is running for president in 2020.
Biden formally entered the crowded Democratic pool of candidates, which has seen 20 declared candidates, with the release of a video. He mentioned the recent tragedy at Charlottesville, Virginia which saw a young woman killed by a white supremacist and the “soul” of America.
“The core values of this nation… our standing in the world… our very democracy…everything that has made America — America –is at stake. That’s why today I’m announcing my candidacy for President of the United States,” he captioned the video.
The core values of this nation… our standing in the world… our very democracy…everything that has made America — America –is at stake. That’s why today I’m announcing my candidacy for President of the United States. #Joe2020 https://t.co/jzaQbyTEz3
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 25, 2019
In the video, he criticized how President Donald Trump handled the 2017 tragedy.
“He said there were quote some very fine people on both sides,” Biden said. “With those words, the President of the United States assigned a moral equivalence between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it. And in that moment, I knew the threat to this nation was unlike any I had ever seen in my lifetime.”
Biden said that the upcoming election would be a referendum on the values that America holds dear. He believed that “soul of this nation” was in jeopardy.
“The core values of this nation, our standing in the world, our very democracy, everything that has made America, America, is at stake,” Biden said in the video. “That’s why today I’m announcing my candidacy for President of the United States.”
Biden, 76, served as the 47th vice president of the United States under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017. He is widely seen as the front runner but his four decades career in politics will be a strength and benefit. Biden is expected to draw from his experience but scandals such as his treatment of Anita Hill at Clarence Thomas’ confirmation hearing for the Supreme in 1991 and voting for the 1994 Crime Bill. He was also recently accused by Lucy Flores and other women of touching them without their consent.
Trump wasted no time in welcoming Biden to the race. He reacted quickly to his declared candidacy.
“Welcome to the race Sleepy Joe,” Trump tweeted. “I only hope you have the intelligence, long in doubt, to wage a successful primary campaign. It will be nasty – you will be dealing with people who truly have some very sick & demented ideas. But if you make it, I will see you at the Starting Gate!”
