President Donald Trump has welcomed former Vice President Joe Biden to the 2020 White House race with his trademark acerbic Twitter commentary.

Trump tweeted Thursday: “Welcome to the race Sleepy Joe,” one of his nicknames for Biden, a fellow septuagenarian. He adds: “I only hope you have the intelligence, long in doubt, to wage a successful primary campaign.”

Trump predicted that the race to face him in the general election will be “nasty” but said if Biden wins the nomination, “I will see you at the Starting Gate!”

Biden formally announced his candidacy on Thursday, entering the crowded 2020 Democratic field as a front-runner.

His declaration has excited his fellow Democrats and has attracted support from many quarters, especially with the endorsement of senators from Delaware and Pennsylvania.

Although former President Barack Obama did not endorse Biden, he said through a spokeswoman that selecting Biden as his running mate in 2008 was “one of the best decisions he ever made.”

Obama is not expected to endorse any candidate early in the Democratic primary. But the fact that he released a statement – something he hasn’t done after any other candidate announcements – underscores his close personal bond with Biden.

Obama spokeswoman Katie Hill said Obama relied on Biden’s “knowledge, insight, and judgment throughout both campaigns and the entire presidency.”

The former president has met with multiple Democratic presidential contenders and is said to welcome the large 2020 field and believe it will make the eventual Democratic nominee a stronger White House contender.

Senate Democrats from Joe Biden’s twin home states of Delaware and Pennsylvania are endorsing him for president.

Delaware Sen. Chris Coons and Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey quickly issued written statements supporting the former vice president after Biden posted a video declaring his 2020 candidacy.

Coons, who holds Biden’s old Senate seat, says in the statement, “Joe Biden doesn’t just talk about making our county more just, he delivers results.”

Casey says, “At this make-or-break moment for the middle class, our children and our workers, America needs Vice President Joe Biden to be its next President.”

Biden was raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania, but has lived most of his life in Wilmington, Delaware. Biden represented Delaware in the Senate from 1973 to 2009.

Joe Biden will hit the road campaigning first thing next week.

Biden is scheduled to begin in Pittsburgh, the working class heart of his childhood home state of Pennsylvania. He’ll receive the endorsement of the International Association of Fire Fighters and speak about rebuilding the middle class.

Then it’s off to Iowa, home of the leadoff nominating caucuses. That will be followed by a trip to South Carolina, where Biden is seen as having to do well among the state’s sizeable blocs of African American voters and military veterans.

Biden is scheduled to visit other early-voting states Nevada and New Hampshire in early May, before holding a national event in Philadelphia on May 18.

Biden joined the crowded Democratic presidential contest on Thursday, declaring the “soul of this nation” at stake if President Donald Trump wins re-election.

His declaration for the nation’s top job did not excite Democrats from the party’s left wing.

A group aligned with New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Justice Democrats said in a lengthy statement that Biden is a centrist Democrat who could “divide the party.” It says Biden could squelch progressive enthusiasm for policies like single-payer health care and a Green New Deal.

The group said the “old guard” already failed to defeat President Donald Trump in 2016 and cannot be counted on to excite the base in 2020. But the statement still notes that Justice Democrats will support whoever wins the Democratic nomination next year. (AP/NAN)

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