Joe Biden says he doesn't need Barack Obama's endorsement for 2020 because 'everyone knows I’m close with him'
Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden still misses what most of his supporters would have loved to see: an endorsement from former president Barack Obama. He had served as Obama’s vice president for eight long years and the duo is known to share a rapport. But the former Democratic president has not yet extended his official support for the 76-year-old and even said during a talk with another presidential candidate that the latter didn’t have it in him to connect with the voters. In January this year, Obama even went on to say that the political leadership needs new blood and for many, it never laid the foundation for Obama endorsing the septuagenarian.
The words from Obama were expected to discourage the Biden campaign but on Monday, December 2, the former vice president said that he didn’t need Obama’s endorsement even if the fray saw only three contenders. Speaking during an interview aboard his campaign bus during an eight-day “No Malarkey” tour through rural Iowa -- the state which will go to caucuses on February 3, Biden said: “No, because everyone knows I’m close with him. I don’t need an Obama endorsement.” Politico reported.
When asked about Obama’s belief that Biden “really doesn’t have it” to establish an intimate connection with the voters, Biden acknowledged saying “there’s truth in it”.
“He may have said that. And if it’s true, and he said it, there’s truth to it,” Biden said, adding that he has mostly campaigned for other people. “And I’ve never been in a position seeking the nomination where I have had the money and the organization to be able to get open headquarters all over the state,” the former Delaware senator said.
While Biden is not being considered among the favorites to bag Iowa, he said he would be “awful hard” to stop from winning the nomination if he succeeded in winning the opening caucus.
Biden speaks about his role to cement Democrats' base
Biden also said that as Obama’s deputy, he had played a crucial role in bettering bonds with the Democratic Party’s base, including the African-Americans and with voters in states like Pennsylvania, Colorado, Virginia and Florida.
“I was the one who was sent in,” he said. “And the reason was because all the polling and data showed that I had those relationships with the base of the Democratic Party as well as African-Americans. And so I did as many African Americans events as Barack did,” the veteran politician said.
Experts have hailed Biden to be doing a good job in attracting the black voters more than non-white Democratic candidates like Kamala Harris and Cory Booker.