Former Vice President Joe Biden, a moderate who has made his appeal to working-class voters that deserted the Democrats in 2016 a key part of his political identity, launched a bid for the White House on Thursday as the party’s instant frontrunner.
“TRUMP IS A TRAGEDY”
Biden announced the third presidential bid of his career by video on YouTube and other social media. He is expected to make his first public appearance as a candidate on Monday at an event in Pittsburgh featuring union members, a key constituency.
Biden, 76, had been wrestling for months over whether to run. His candidacy will face numerous questions, including whether he is too old and too centrist for a Democratic Party yearning for fresh faces and increasingly propelled by its more vocal liberal wing.
In a speech to union members in April, Biden called Trump a “tragedy in two acts.” “This country can’t afford more years of a president looking to settle personal scores,” he said.
“AMTRAK JOE”
Biden is a noted train enthusiast and advocated for improvements to America’s railway system during his time as vice president. In 2016, he facilitated a $2.45 billion federal loan to Amtrak to buy new trains and fix up tracks and stations. Best of all, he announced the loan in August from a station named for him, the Joseph R. Biden Jr., Train Station in Wilmington, Delaware.