Former Vice President Joe Biden officially jumped in the Democratic race for president in 2020. He made the announcement in a video message he posted on Twitter.
"I believe history will look back on four years of this president and all he embraces as an abhorrent moment in time," Biden said.
"But 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."
In the video, Biden focused on the deadly protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, highlighting President Trump’s comment that there were some “very fine people” on both sides of the clash between white supremacists and counter protesters.
“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,” Biden said. “And in that moment, I knew the threat to this nation was unlike any I had seen in my lifetime.”
He continued: “We are in the battle for the soul of this nation."
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
Weighing in on the announcement, RNC communications director Michael Ahrens said 2020 will turn out the same way his other campaigns have.
“Joe Biden has been running for president and losing since the ‘80s. 2020 won’t be any different," he said in a statement. "Biden’s fingerprints are all over foreign policy blunders and the weakest economic recovery since World War II. We don’t need eight more years of Biden. Just ask President Obama, who isn’t even endorsing his right-hand man.”
This is a breaking news post and will be updated with additional information.
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