In a live video endorsement that lasted a little over 12 minutes, former US president, Barack Obama pledged his support for his number two in the White House, Joe Biden.
Obama, who had withheld support for any candidate in the Democratic presidential primaries, said on Tuesday that “Americans of all political stripes” needed to support Biden.
“Joe has the character and the experience to guide us through one of our darkest times and heal us through a long recovery,” Obama testified of Biden, his vice-president of eight years.
The former president added, “If there’s one thing we’ve learned as a country from moments of great crisis, it’s that the spirit of looking out for one another can’t be restricted to our homes, or our workplaces, or our neighborhoods, or our houses of worship.”
Obama cited what he believes where the qualities of Biden and explained that “that kind of leadership doesn’t just belong in our state capitols and mayors offices. It belongs in the White House.”
The 44th president of the United States had already been expected to support Biden, especially after Bernie Sanders suspended his presidential campaign.
Sanders himself got ahead of Obama to implore his supporters to throw their support behind Biden, who has become the presumptive Democratic nominee for November.
Obama did not leave out praise for Sanders, who the former president called, “an American original.”
He said of Sanders, “He and I haven’t always agreed on everything, but we’ve always shared a conviction that we have to make America a fairer, more just, more equitable society.”
Obama’s message comes as a clarion call from the most popular living occupant of the White House past or present.
The call is expected to bring together Democrats as well as liberal independents and progressives who polls show are the most determined to vote out Donald Trump in November.
