As we reported here on Monday, sources within the Biden campaign indicated that not only has the former Vice President made up his mind to run, but he was getting ready to enter the 2020 Presidential campaign as early as today, Wednesday.
That news spread quickly, but also deteriorated quickly as those plans for a Wednesday announcement slipped to later in the week, or perhaps would be postponed to next week. The appearance from the outside is a fledgling campaign that seems to be walking into a chaotic rollout which would be stunning for a veteran politician like Biden who has spent four decades running for various offices.
The new story, as of today, is that Biden is set for a video announcement on Thursday, followed by an appearance in Pittsburgh on Monday. From there, he will embark on a tour of all the early primary states including Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and even Nevada.
NBC reports on the latest Biden announcement news:
Former Vice President Joe Biden will announce his presidential bid Thursday morning with an online video, two sources close to Biden with direct knowledge of the planning confirmed to NBC News.
Biden will then appear in Pittsburgh on Monday for an event at a local union hall, NBC News has learned. Biden will then embark on a tour of the four early voting states — Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada — in the following weeks.
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News that Biden is set to announce on Thursday comes after months of suspense over whether he would join the primary field, although it appeared to be all but certain in recent weeks. Even the date of his announcement video appeared to be in flux, as other outlets reported it would be released on Wednesday.
There was also talk earlier this week, or even late last week, that Biden was considering making his announcement from Charlottesville, Virginia, as a way to highlight the racial divisions which have arisen under the Trump administration.
In 2017, Biden penned an op-ed harshly criticizing the President’s response to the Charlottesville events saying, “We are living through a battle for the soul of this nation.”
The topic, and namely President Trump’s response to it, has been near-and-dear to Biden so it would have made sense to consider the Virginia venue for a campaign rollout.
However, those plans were quickly shot down, perhaps due to criticism from some who felt that Biden using the events of Charlottesville to advance his political career would be unseemly.
Still Dealing With “Touchy” Subjects
On the eve of Biden’s impending announcement, one of his strongest female critics, who accused him of touching her inappropriately at a campaign rally in 2014, resurfaced this week saying she wasn’t amused by his recent joking over his touchy-feely personality:
A Nevada Democrat who accused Joe Biden of touching her without permission says the former vice president has been “so incredibly disrespectful” by joking about the matter .
Lucy Flores leveled her criticism Monday on Fox News as Biden nears an announcement of his 2020 presidential campaign.
“The basis of the behavior that I talked about was something much more serious than just a hug,” Flores said on Fox, referring to her account that during a 2014 political event Biden touched her shoulders from behind, smelled her hair and kissed her head without permission.
“We’re talking about the fact that, as women, we have had to endure this kind of inappropriate behavior on behalf of powerful men certainly for as long as I’ve been alive — you know, forever,” Flores said.
Flores has remained a thorn in Biden’s side, but not one that seems to be slowing down his campaign or causing serious damage to his poll numbers at the moment. That, of course, could change down the road, especially if some of his opponents try to use these accusations against him to paint him as part of the “old guard” establishment that gets a pass for behavior like this.
Either way, it seems that Thursday is the day to expect a Biden video announcement entering the campaign. However, the story with Biden’s 2020 campaign plans up to this point has been indecision, leaked stories, and changed plans.
Unless and until we see the Biden 2020 announcement video, everything, it seems, is subject to change.
