NEW YORK, April 25. /TASS/. Former US Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday has officially announced his candidacy for the US presidential elections scheduled for 2020.
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) 25 April 2019
Biden is expected to hold his first rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he will meet with a group of trade union activists and then he will set on a tour across states where primaries and Democratic Party activist meetings will be held in the beginning of 2020, namely Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.
Biden is the twentieth politician to announce his intention to contest presidency as a Democratic Party candidate at the 2020 election. Earlier, the presidential race was joined by Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who competed against Hillary Clinton to run for the White House in 2016, former Mayor of San Antonio, Texas Julian Castro, who used to serve as Housing and Urban Development Secretary under former President Barack Obama, ex-congressman from Maryland John Delaney, Mayor of South Bend, Indiana Pete Buttigieg, New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand, California senator Kamala Harris, Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar and New Jersey senator Cory Booker.
According to the results of a nationwide poll conducted by the Morning Consult survey research company among 5,000 Americans on April 15-21, Biden enjoys the support of 30% of the respondents, while Sanders is supported by 24%. Buttigieg comes third with the support of 9%.
Biden’s 1988 and 2008 failures
Joe Biden’s political career kicked off in 1972 when he was elected to the US Senate from Delaware. In 1988 and 2008 the politician was competing for the US presidency, but failed both times. In 2009-2017 Biden served as Vice President under President Barack Obama.
This year, he was accused of inappropriate conduct. One woman recalled that back in 2014 in Las Vegas she was approached by Biden from her back, who then put his hands on her shoulders and kissed the back of her head. Another woman claimed that Biden "grabbed her by the head" at a fundraiser in Greenwich in 2009. In response, the politician issued a statement underlining that he had never acted inappropriately.
Candidates will meet for live debates
Biden will meet his party competitors face-to-face for the first time during the televised debates that will be held in Miami, Florida on June 26-27. Only those contenders who manage to gain at least 1% support according to three surveys and receive campaign donations from 65,000 people will be eligible to take part in the debates. Six such debates are planned for the rest of 2019 and another six will be held in January-April 2020.
The Democratic Party will name its sole candidate for presidency at a party meeting that will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 13-16, 2020. The Republican Party’s rally will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina on August 24-27, 2020.
The 59th US presidential elections are scheduled for November 3, 2020.