Barack Obama endorses Joe Biden for US President
14 April 2020, 18:11
President Barack Obama endorses Joe Biden For President
Former US President Barack Obama has endorsed Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the race for the White House.
It comes the day after Mr Biden also received the backing of former candidate Bernie Sanders who dropped out of the presidency race last week.
The official Democratic nominee deputised for Mr Obama as vice-president between 2009 and 2017. He will now face the incumbent President Donald Trump in November's election.
He received the support from his former colleague on Tuesday afternoon after Mr Obama uploaded a video to social media saying he was "so proud to endorse Joe Biden" as president.
The 58-year-old said: "Choosing Joe to be my vide-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's someone whose own life has taught him how to persevere; how to bounce back when you've been knocked down."
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The former US leader commended the Democratic nominee's values and work ethic, saying "that steel made him an incredible partner when I needed one the most."
He added: "[Joe] was the one asking what every policy would do for the middle class and everyone striving to get into the middle class."
The pair are close friends from their time together in the White House, with Mr Biden often referring to himself as an "Obama-Biden Democrat" during his campaign.
Mr Obama rarely spoke out during the Democratic primaries and instead chose to privately help anyone who sought his counsel. It is thought he has given his backing now in order to unite the party.
"Joe has the character and experience to guide us through one of our darkest times and heal us through a very long recover," he continued.
"I know he'll surround himself with good people: experts, scientists, military officials who actually know how to run the government and care about doing a good job."
Mr Biden received the former leader's backing far earlier than Hillary Clinton in 2016 - he voiced his support in June that year - after the former nominee's contentious primary fight with Bernie Sanders dragged on.
He has now been endorsed by all of his former Democratic primary rivals except for Elizabeth Warren, who is expected to formally throw her support behind him soon, according to a source.
Ms Clinton and her husband, the former President Bill Clinton, have also not yet backed Mr Biden.
