Biden didn't mention Obama when he announced his campaign in a video Thursday, but his latest video, "America: Anything is Possible," uses portions of Obama's laudatory speech when he presented Biden with the Medal of Freedom in 2017.
"Joe's candid counsel has made me a better president," Obama says in his speech. "He could not have been a more effective partner in the progress that we've made." The video also includes stills of Biden seated next to Obama in the Situation Room.
The Obama team was well aware that the Biden campaign was going to use the former president's glowing words about his vice president as part of its rollout, a top Democrat familiar with the matter told CNN.
Biden's team briefed Obama's advisers of their rollout in advance, including Tuesday's video — and other things that are still to come.
One key objective of Biden's rollout is to wrap himself in as much Obama glow as he can, and there was no objection from Obama to any of this, the top Democrat said.
Obama hasn't yet endorsed a Democrat in the 2020 presidential race -- and has no plans to do so anytime soon -- but voters will see a lot of Obama-Biden in the coming weeks and months, the top Democrat added.
Biden told reporters on Thursday he's asked Obama not to endorse, because he feels "whoever wins this nomination should win this on their own merits."
A self-described "Obama-Biden Democrat," Biden was asked by ABC News how his presidency would be different or if he's running for a third Obama term.
"I'm really proud of serving with Barack, with the President, but look, it's a new time, a new day. We're moving on to deal with the things that are within our grasp," Biden said in an interview that aired Tuesday.
No comments:
Post a Comment