Obama FINALLY endorses Biden for 2020: 'Joe has all the qualities we need in a president right now'
Former President Barack Obama, on Tuesday, April 14, endorsed 2020 Democratic frontrunner, former Vice President Joe Biden, for the White House run. Obama made the announcement through a video on Twitter, praising both Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders' presidential campaigns. Sanders, earlier this month, dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden on Monday, April 13.
"I’m proud to endorse my friend @JoeBiden for President of the United States," the former president wrote on Twitter. "Choosing Joe to be my vice president was one of the best decisions I ever made, and he became a close friend. And I believe Joe has all the qualities we need in a president right now," he said in the 12-minute video.
"If there's one thing we've learned as a country from moments of great crisis, it's that the spirit of looking out for one another can't be restricted to our homes, or our workplaces, or our neighborhoods, or our houses of worship. It also has to be reflected in our national government," Obama said in his video message.
"The kind of leadership that's guided by knowledge and experience, honesty and humility, empathy and grace -- that kind of leadership doesn't just belong in our state capitols and mayors offices. It belongs in the White House. And that's why I'm so proud to endorse Joe Biden for President of the United States," he continued.
The endorsement marked Obama's public re-emergence into the political era as he has been largely absent from the Democratic nomination race, which began last year. The Democratic leader's endorsement also reunited the former running mates. The endorsement has positioned the former president as one of Biden's most powerful surrogates in the race to fight President Donald Trump.
Obama's decision to not endorse a particular Democratic candidate early on in the 2020 race had raised speculations about his ties with his vice president, Biden. The Democratic frontrunner, however, in his opening campaign speech had made it clear that he had asked Obama "not to endorse him."
"Whoever wins this nomination should win it on their own merit,” the former vice president had said.
The Trump campaign, on Tuesday, had mocked a potential Obama endorsement for Biden, claiming that the former president had no choice but to back the only candidate left in the race.
"Now that Biden is the only candidate left in the Democrat field, Obama has no other choice but to support him. Even Bernie Sanders beat him to it,” campaign boss Brad Parscale said in a statement.
Obama, in the 2016 elections, had not endorsed then-Democratic frontrunner, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, until June, when she had secured enough candidates to become the presumptive nominee of the Democratic party.
While talking about Sanders, Obama said: "Bernie's an American original -- a man who has devoted his life to giving voice to working people's hopes, dreams, and frustrations. He and I haven't always agreed on everything, but we've always shared a conviction that we have to make America a fairer, more just, more equitable society."
Although the former president did not mention Trump by name, he appeared to denounce his handling of the presidency: "Right now, we need Americans of goodwill to unite in a great awakening against a politics that too often has been characterized by corruption, carelessness, self-dealing, disinformation, ignorance, and just plain meanness"