Associated Press
- Former Vice President Joe Biden at an event on Tuesday said his family wants him to run for president in 2020.
- In the past, Biden said he was considering running but needed to discuss it closely with his family.
- "There’s a consensus I should — they…want me to run," Biden said on Tuesday. "The first hurdle for me was deciding whether or not I am comfortable taking the family through what would be a very, very, very difficult campaign."
- Biden, an unabashed Trump critic, would join a young, diverse field of Democratic candidates.
Former Vice President Joe Biden seems to be inching toward a big announcement on the 2020 presidential election.
Biden at an event with presidential historian Jon Meachem at the University of Delaware on Tuesday said his family wants him to run.
"There’s a consensus I should — they…want me to run," Biden said. "The first hurdle for me was deciding whether or not I am comfortable taking the family through what would be a very very, very difficult campaign."
Meanwhile, Biden has reportedly hired staff in New Hampshire and South Carolina, two key primary states.
Biden at an event in December described himself as the "most qualified person in the country to be president," but said he’d have to discuss the matter more with his family before making a decision.
Read more: Joe Biden gave his strongest hint yet he’s leaning toward running in 2020
In the months since, there have been multiple reports suggesting Biden was poised to announce in the near future.
Biden in early January said he would announce his plans for 2020 "soon," without offering many details.
The former vice president remains a popular figure nationwide and polls have suggested he’d defeat President Donald Trump in an election. Biden has been an unabashed critic of Trump since the 2016 election.
Read more: Are Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden too old to run for president? Data suggests the answer is no
If he announced, Biden, 76, would join a diverse, young field of candidates. But he would not be the only septuagenarian or even the oldest candidate, as Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, 77, has already thrown his hat into the ring.
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See Also:
- ‘Shouldn’t we compensate people if they were property?’: 2020 Democrats are divided over whether to give reparations to black Americans
- Bernie Sanders pledges to support whoever the Democratic nominee is in 2020 to defeat Trump, but hopes it’ll be him
- Bernie Sanders’ foreign policy adviser breaks down the senator’s progressive global agenda for 2020
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (John Haltiwanger)