Former Vice President and Delaware Senator Joe Biden is expected to announce his candidacy for president in 2020 on Thursday after months of speculation about whether or not the elder statesman would run.
In a video posted to his social media channels, Biden called out President Trump for comments he made following protests by white supremacists in Charlottesville, VA and said that America was “in the battle for the soul of the 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.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden)
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
Biden’s run has been a subject of discussion for months and Democrats are split over the impact his presence in the race could have. He has strong name-recognition and more foreign policy experience than his opponents. But he's also recently coming off an incident in which several women accused him of making them uncomfortable by inappropriately touching them. Others wonder whether voters in a Democratic party that has shifted to the left since he last ran for president and is maybe more ideologically fragmented than ever will want to vote for yet another white, male politician.
But just how strong is his candidacy in a crowded field of candidates that is racially and ideologically diverse and in a party that is longing for a shake-up of the status quo?
Guests:
Matt Rodriguez, Democratic strategist and founder and chief executive officer of Rodriguez Strategies. He is also a former senior Obama advisor in 2008; he tweets
Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University who has written about Joe Biden’s candidacy; he tweets