Joe Biden to face Donald Trump after securing Democratic presidential nomination

Katy Clifton6 June 2020

Joe Biden has clinched the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, setting him up to compete against Donald Trump for US leadership.

The former vice president has been his party’s presumptive nominee since rival Bernie Sanders ended his campaign in April.

Mr Biden said in a statement: “It was an honour to compete alongside one of the most talented groups of candidates the Democratic party has ever fielded.

"I am proud to say that we are going into this general election a united party.”

REUTERS

But he needed to secure a sufficient number of delegates from elections this week in seven states and the District of Columbia, with a surge in mail ballots making his position official late on Friday.

The moment was met with little of the traditional fanfare as the nation confronts overlapping crises.

While Biden has started to venture out more this week, the coronavirus pandemic has largely confined him to his Wilmington, Delaware, home for much of the past three months.

The country currently faces the worst rate of unemployment since the Great Depression.

Donald Trump
Getty Images

And civil unrest that harkens back to the 1960s has erupted in dozens of US cities and spread around the world following the death of George Floyd.

Mr Floyd was a black man who died when a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air.

It is a confluence of events that no US leader has faced in modern times, made all the more complicated by a president who has at times antagonised the protesters and is eager to take the fight to Mr Biden.

Mr Biden acknowledged on Friday night that it was a “difficult time in America’s history”.

He added: “And Donald Trump’s angry, divisive politics is no answer. The country is crying out for leadership. Leadership that can unite us. Leadership that can bring us together.”

Mr Biden is in the midst of his third bid for the presidency, having spent 36 years as a senator before becoming Barack Obama’s deputy in 2008.

His success in securing the nomination has been attributed to strong support from black voters whose backing he will need in critical swing states if he is to defeat Mr Trump in November.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in