In an online video released on Thursday, former Vice President Joe Biden announced his official candidacy in the 2020 presidential election. As Biden enters the running, he is joining plenty of other Democrats whose main purpose is to get Trump out of the White House. This is Biden’s third time running for the presidency, so hopefully, he’ll do better than he did in 1988 and 2008. Early Tuesday, Biden tweeted: “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.”
With the announcement of Biden’s candidacy, Trump welcomed Biden to the race, saying that it would be “nasty.” In a tweet, President Trump wrote: “Welcome to the race Sleepy Joe. 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!” Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders have constantly been at the top of the poll for the Democratic nomination. In Biden’s video released on Thursday, he spoke about the violence that occurred in the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia during a white nationalist rally in August of 2017. Biden called out Trump for his response to the violence, in which he said: “there were some very fine people on both sides.”
“With those words, the president of the United 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 seen in my lifetime. I wrote at the time that we’re in the battle for the soul of this nation. Well, that’s even more true today. We are in the battle for the soul of this nation,” said Biden. The former vice president also argued that “if we give Donald Trump eight years in the White House, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation, who we are, and I cannot stand, by and watch that happen.”
Biden’s announcement is expected to be followed by his first high-dollar fundraiser in Philadelphia on Thursday night. For weeks, Biden has been getting together potential donors in an effort to give his campaign strength. He definitely has his work cut out for him, especially considering that Sanders and O’Rourke have managed to raise $6 million during the first 24 hours after announcing their candidacy.
Biden’s campaign has said that he will present his “vision for rebuilding America’s middle class” during the event in Pittsburgh. After that, he’ll be heading to the four states that vote first during the primary and caucus nominating calendar. His campaign also announced that Biden will also be holding a rally in Philadelphia on May 18.
The country has been waiting a while for Biden to announce his candidacy, but it finally came after he faced allegations from different women who said that he made them feel uncomfortable at one time or another. The allegations against Biden immediately took center stage, forcing him to speak out in defense of the #MeToo era. In a video explaining his actions, Biden said: “Social norms are changing. I understand that, and I’ve heard what these women are saying. Politics to me has always been about making connections, but I will be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future. That’s my responsibility and I will meet it.”
Biden may not have sent out formal apologies to these women, but Biden did say: “I’m sorry I didn’t understand more. I’m not sorry for any of my intentions. I’m not sorry for anything I’ve ever done. I’ve never been disrespectful intentionally to a man or a woman.” Then while speaking about getting too close to fellow politicians and their family members, Biden explained that “it is incumbent on me and everybody else to make sure that if you embrace someone, if you touch someone, it’s with their consent, regardless of your intentions.”
There’s no hiding the fact that Biden has had his eyes on the presidency for quite some time. Biden launched his first bid for the presidency in 1988. At the time, Biden was the senator of Delaware and considered one of the strongest candidates in the race. Unfortunately, just three months into his campaign, the newspaper headlines accused Biden of plagiarizing a speech by British politician Neil Kinnock. Before the primaries even started, Biden was knocked out of the race because of all of the controversy. In 2008. Biden ran for the Democratic nomination once again, but his campaign never took off the ground.
Biden is also responsible for making some well-publicized blunders, like his description of then-Sen. Barack Obama. “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man,” said Biden. Obviously, those comments got Biden into trouble and he had to apologize. Eventually, Biden was overshadowed by Obama and Clinton, and he dropped out of the race. Apparently, Biden really stuck out to Obama because he was chosen as Obama’s running mate, and the rest is history. Biden was considering running again in 2016, but at the time, he was healing from the passing of his eldest son, and he decided against running. While he was speaking about his decision at the Rose Garden, Biden explained that he had been emotionally drained by his son’s death and he stressed that “nobody has a right … to seek that office unless they’re willing to give it 110 percent of who they are.”
Biden was obviously upset that Trump was in the White House, and before long, he had become a loud voice of criticism in Trump’s life. Rumors of Biden’s candidacy began to fly around, and after trips to New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Iowa, it was pretty much confirmed that Biden would be running. In early March, Biden dropped a huge hint that he would indeed be running in the 2020 campaign. After receiving chants of “run Joe, run” at a convention for the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), Biden said: “I appreciate the energy you showed when I got up here. Save it a little longer. I may need it in a few weeks.” At the beginning of April, while speaking to reporters, Biden said: “I am very close to making a decision to stand before you all relatively soon.” When Biden was asked why there was a hold-up, he answered: “The hold-up is to put everything together.” Biden also spoke about the perception that he’s a moderate in an extremely leftist party. Biden said that he was willing to stack his record against “anybody who has run or who is running now or who will run.” Pointing to his early push for same-sex marriage during the Obama administration, Biden said: “I’m not sure when everybody else came out and said they’re for gay marriage.”
