WATCH: Obama Endorses Biden (Update)

The Washington Post

Former president Barack Obama endorsed his former vice president Joe Biden

Former president Barack Obama endorsed Joe Biden on Tuesday, calling on Americans to unite in a“great awakening” in November and offering the presumptive presidential nominee a boost as he seeks to coalesce support in the Democratic Party.

In a 12-minute video posted online that served as part endorsement and part political blueprint, Obama said Biden “has the character and the experience to guide us through one of our darkest times and heal us through a long recovery.”

The address marked the 44th president’s most detailed comments this year on the upcoming election. He tied his support of Biden to the coronavirus pandemic, issued a blistering critique of the Republican Party and sought to hit unifying notes by nodding to the rivals Biden vanquished in the primary, which he said featured “one of the most impressive Democratic fields ever.”

The public health crisis has “reminded us that government matters. It’s reminded us that good government matters. That facts and science matters,” said Obama, who wore a blue shirt and dark blazer in the video.

Although he did not name President Trump, he issued a stern warning to voters: “The Republicans occupying the White House and running the U.S. Senate are not interested in progress. They are interested in power.”

To defeat them, Obama said, would require Americans uniting in a “great awakening against a politics that too often has been characterized by corruption, carelessness, self-dealing, disinformation, ignorance and just plain meanness.”

The announcement served as Obama’s public reemergence after a contest in which he largely stayed out of the spotlight, as two dozen Democrats fought for the nomination. The former president remains perhaps the most popular and influential figure in the party, making his support the most sought-after stamp of approval in Democratic politics.