“I know Joe Biden as a man of character and dignity,” Lewis said in his endorsement statement. “A man who cannot, and will not rest when he sees injustice in our American home.”
Throughout the campaign, Biden has invoked Obama’s legacy, noting that he would build on the Affordable Care Act, colloquially called Obamacare. The health care legislation is one of the Obama’s biggest accomplishments as president.
As the USA reels from the coronavirus pandemic, Biden touted his and Obama’s efforts when they were in office to keep Ebola from overwhelming the country.
During his endorsement remarks, Obama referred to the coronavirus pandemic and highlighted Biden’s work during the H1N1 and Ebola outbreaks.
“Joe helped me manage H1N1 and prevent the Ebola epidemic from becoming the type of pandemic we’re seeing now,” Obama said. “He helped me restore America’s standing and leadership in the world on the other threats of our time, like nuclear proliferation and climate change.”
Obama tried to assure Sanders supporters that Biden is liberal enough, particularly on health care.
The former president said it’s “time to go further” than Obamacare.
“We should make plans affordable for everyone, provide everyone with a public option, expand Medicare and finish the job so that health care isn’t just a right, but a reality for everybody,” he said.
Biden has been critical of Sanders’ proposed “Medicare for All,” which calls for a single-payer system.
“There’s too much unfinished business for us to just look backwards, we have to look to the future,” Obama said. “Bernie understands that. And Joe understands that.”
Obama noted that a Biden administration would “go much further” on climate change.
“We have to return the U.S. to the Paris Agreement and lead the world in reducing the pollution that causes climate change,” Obama said. “But science tells us we have to go much further – that it’s time for us to accelerate progress on bold new green initiatives that make our economy a clean energy innovator, save us money and secure our children’s future.
“Of course, Democrats may not always agree on every detail of the best way to bring about each and every one of these changes,” Obama continued. “But we do agree that they’re needed. And that only happens if we win this election.”
On the campaign trail, Biden has noted how he was still in contact with the former president. Biden said during a virtual fundraiser that he turned to Obama for advice on choosing a vice presidential candidate, according to a pool report of the event. Biden said Obama told him to find someone who has experience where the former vice president is lacking, a dynamic that worked well between the two.
“And so I’m going to need a woman vice president who has the capacity, has strengths where I have weaknesses,” Biden said during remarks at the virtual fundraiser, according to the pool report.
Obama’s endorsement is not the first time he has spoken out during the 2020 primary election. In March, Obama demanded South Carolina television stations and a pro-Trump group stop airing an advertisement that used his voice to attack Biden.
The ad, aired by the Committee to Defend the President super PAC, includes audio of Obama reading from his memoir, “Dreams from My Father,” about Democrats who court black voters only at election time. In the book, Obama paraphrased the words of someone else.
Obama spokeswoman Katie Hill, in a statement, called the ad “despicable.”
“President Obama has several friends in this race, including, of course, his own esteemed Vice President,” she said in the statement.
Trump questioned why Obama didn’t endorse Biden early on in the campaign.
“I don’t know why President Obama hasn’t supported Joe Biden a long time ago,” Trump said at a coronavirus briefing, claiming that Obama “feels something is wrong.”
“It does amaze me that President Obama hasn’t supported Sleepy Joe. It just hasn’t happened. When’s it gonna happen? Why isn’t he? He knows something that you don’t know, that I think I know, that you don’t know,” the president speculated. He did not elaborate.
Contributing: John Fritze
