The former vice president has been hinting at a possible 2020 presidential run for months
After months of hinting at a possible run, it appears that Joe Biden will announce his candidacy for president on Thursday.
On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that the former vice president, 76, will at last officially announce his 2020 presidential run. The newspaper said that Biden will make the announcement in a video and is expected to travel to Pittsburgh, Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina over the next week.
In the past, Biden has argued he’s the best person for the job. In December 2018, he told a crowd at the University of Montana, “I’ll be as straight with you as I can. I think I’m the most qualified person in the country to be president.”
“The issues that we face as a country today are the issues that have been in my wheelhouse, that I’ve worked on my whole life,” he continued.
“No one should run for the job unless they believe that they would be qualified doing the job,” he added at the time. “I’ve been doing this my whole adult life, and the issues that are the most consequential relating to the plight of the middle class and our foreign policy are things that I have — even my critics would acknowledge, I may not be right but I know a great deal about it.”
Biden served as vice president from 2009 to 2017 under President Barack Obama.
According to the Post, he will enter the race on top of many national polls, but the newspaper says his challenge will be in reaching out to demographics like women, millennials, and minorities.
Biden’s supporters, however, argue that he is an ideal candidate to win back blue-collar voters from President Donald Trump.
RELATED: Joe Biden Vows to Respect Personal Space Following Accusations of Inappropriate Behavior
The former vice president has faced controversy in recent weeks, as multiple women came forward to accuse him of inappropriate behavior.
In the days following accusations from Connecticut native Amy Lappos and Nevada politician Lucy Flores, both of whom claimed Biden touched them without consent and made them feel uncomfortable, Biden spoke out on Twitter and vowed to be more mindful of people’s personal space.
Flores claimed that Biden touched her shoulders and kissed the back of her head without consent in 2014, while Lappos came forward and said Biden grabbed her head and rubbed his nose on hers during a political fundraiser 10 years ago.
In the two-minute video posted earlier this month, the politician said that his intentions were never to make anyone feel uncomfortable and said he would adjust to the changing social norms of personal space.
“In my career, I’ve always tried to make a human connection — that’s my responsibility, I think,” he said, explaining that he often will “shake hands, hug people, or grab men and women by the shoulders and say, ‘You can do this.’”
“Social norms have begun to change, they’ve shifted, and the boundaries of protecting personal space have been reset and I get it. I get it,” Biden added. “I hear what they’re saying. I understand it and I’ll be much more mindful. That’s my responsibility and I’ll meet it.”
