Crusader Staff Report
Former President Barack Obama on Tuesday, April 13, endorsed his former vice president, Joe Biden for president, one week after Bernie Sanders dropped out of the Democratic presidential race.
Obama released a statement endorsing Biden as the Democratic nominee in the 2020 race for the White House. He will face Republican President Donald Trump in the general election in November.
“Joe was there as we rebuilt from the Great Recession and rescued the American auto industry. He was the one asking what every policy would do for the middle class and everyone striving to get into the middle class,” Obama said in a statement. “That’s why I asked him to implement the Recovery Act, which saved millions of jobs and got people back on their feet – because Joe gets stuff done…Joe helped me manage H1N1 and prevent the Ebola epidemic from becoming the type of pandemic we’re seeing now. He helped me restore America’s standing and leadership in the world on the other threats of our time, like nuclear proliferation and climate change.”
Early in the campaign season, Biden trailed his Democratic rivals after three primaries. Biden rose to the top after the South Carolina Primary in February where Black voters flooded the polls and saved his campaign and White House ambitions from defeat.
Obama made the announcement on his Twitter page and shared a video praising Biden and stating why he would be a great president. He also stressed the importance of voting in the upcoming election in the wake of the global COVID-19, or novel coronavirus pandemic.
“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,” explains Obama in the video. “And to change that, we need Americans of all political stripes to get involved in our politics and our public life like never before.”
Watch Obama’s endorsement video of Biden.
There were questions as to why Obama did not endorse his former Vice President as his campaign suffered early in the season. When asked whether Obama would endorse him Biden told a reporter that “this campaign is something he would have to win on his own.”
