Dana Bash: This is so telling about where the Republican party is NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 24: Trump Tower stands on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on August 24, 2018 in New York City. Following new allegations over hush money that former Trump attorney Michael Cohen paid to an adult-film actress, the Manhattan district attorneyÕs office in New York City may seek criminal charges against the Trump Organization in the coming days. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Why GOP is standing in the way of Capitol riot investigation WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 08: US Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-VA) remarks on the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at the US Capitol November 8, 2006 in Washington, DC. Warner said he supports President George W. Bush's nomination of former CIA Director Robert Gates for Secretary of Defense. Warner said he anticipates Gates' confirmation before the end of the year. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), joined by Senate Assistant Minority Leader John Thune (R-SD) (L) and Senate Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO), speaks following a Senate Republican Policy luncheon at the Russell Senate Office Building on May 18, 2021 in Washington, DC. Former US Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the First State Democratic Dinner in Dover, Delaware, on March 16, 2019. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images) (CNN) — After months of deliberation, former Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday announced his decision to run for president for a third time, answering one of the biggest outstanding questions about the makeup of the 2020 race. The announcement came in a campaign video released Thursday morning. In his campaign announcement video, Biden rebuked the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017 and President Donald Trump’s handling of the aftermath. “He said there were quote some very fine people on both sides,” Biden said. “With those words, the President of the United States assigned a moral equivalence between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it. And in that moment, I knew the threat to this nation was unlike any I had ever seen in my lifetime.” Biden framed the 2020 race as a “battle for the soul of this nation.” “The core values of this nation, our standing in the world, our very democracy, everything that has made America, America, is at stake,” Biden said in the video. “That’s why today I’m announcing my candidacy for President of the United States.” Later Thursday, Biden will attend a fundraiser in Philadelphia before appearing on ABC’s “The View” for his first television interview since the announcement on Friday. On Monday, he will hold his first official event in Pittsburgh, followed by a swing through early voting states like Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina in the coming weeks. On May 18, Biden will host a rally in Philadelphia where he will “lay out his vision for unifying America with respected leadership on the world stage,” according to his campaign. Faces unprecedented scrutiny Biden, 76, enters the crowded Democratic primary field of 20 candidates as the presumptive front-runner sitting atop the most recent polls. But his more than four-decades-long career is set to undergo an unprecedented level of scrutiny as he seeks to win the Democratic nomination to take on Trump in a general election. Biden, a centrist Democrat who often touts his relationships with those across the aisle, also will grapple with a Democratic Party that is increasingly feeling a pull from the left with a number of progressive candidates, like Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, in the 2020 race. “I’m told I get criticized by the new left,” Biden said at an event in Delaware last month. “I have the most progressive record of anybody running for the United … anybody who would run.” Trump has described a general election match-up against the former vice president as a “dream,” while some Republicans cast Biden, who has crafted a political brand aimed at appealing to working-class voters, as the most feared potential Democratic opponent for the President. The President taunted Biden soon after his announcement Thursday morning. “Welcome to the race Sleepy Joe,” Trump tweeted. “I only hope you have the intelligence, long in doubt, to wage a successful primary campaign. It will be nasty - you will be dealing with people who truly have some very sick & demented ideas. But if you make it, I will see you at the Starting Gate!” Shortly after jumping in the race Thursday morning, Biden picked up endorsements from Democratic Sens. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Chris Coons of Delaware. One notable Democratic heavyweight, however, did not immediately throw his support behind the former vice president. A person close to former President Barack Obama told CNN that Obama is “excited” by the growing field, but he is “unlikely” to come out in support of a candidate this early in the primary season. In recent weeks, Biden indicated he was close to mounting a 2020 campaign after gaining approval from his family to run for president for a third time. But he also acknowledged there were a number of other hurdles he still needed to work through, including fundraising, digital strategy, assembling a diverse campaign team and ensuring there is an appeal for a Biden run. “I can die a happy man never having lived in the White House, but what I don’t want to do is take people’s time, effort and commitment without there being a clear shot that I could be the nominee,” Biden said in late February. “It is something that I have to make sure I could run a first-rate effort to do this and make clear where I think the country should go and how to get there.” But it appears those concerns were assuaged. As they awaited a decision, Biden’s political team has worked quietly for months to lay the preliminary groundwork for a campaign, court donors and talk to potential staff. Biden’s announcement comes in the wake of allegations he has made women feel uncomfortable in their encounters. The former vice president has maintained he does not believe he has acted inappropriately in his interactions with voters but said he’s willing to listen to women’s experiences and will be more “mindful about respecting personal space in the future.” The debate over his interactions highlights the new reality for candidates running in a post #MeToo era. As he dealt with the fallout of the allegations, Biden’s aides said the issue would not dissuade him from entering the 2020 race, but his team is aware his contact with voters on the campaign trail could be scrutinized throughout a presidential campaign. Seeks to claim Obama mantle This will mark Biden’s third attempt for the White House after two failed bids in 1988 and 2008. His first presidential run was plagued by charges he plagiarized in law school and in campaign speeches. In 2008, he dropped out of the presidential contest after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses, placing fifth with less than one percentage point. Biden came close to making a late entrance into the 2016 campaign to challenge Hillary Clinton and Sanders in the Democratic primary, but ultimately decided against a run, in large part due to the emotional toll his son Beau’s death took on him and his family in 2015. Biden has described himself as an “Obama-Biden Democrat,” a sign he would embrace the mantle of the Obama administration in a presidential campaign. The former vice president has led most early polls of potential Democratic contenders and has enjoyed high name identification and favorability ratings, which rose in the years since leaving public office. Late last year, Biden declared himself the “most qualified person in the country to be president,” with his supporters pointing to his more than four decades of political experience as a boon for a possible campaign. Throughout his career in Washington, Biden has embraced a blue-collar, middle-class message, delved into foreign policy debates and talked about the need to engage in bipartisanship.<doc-sep>Former US Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the First State Democratic Dinner in Dover, Delaware, on March 16, 2019. Even worse for the Democratic front-runner: A realistic-looking parody site featuring images of Biden touching women and children appears to be doing quite well on Google and other major search engines, particularly for the search "Joe Biden website." Users are reporting that the former vice president's official 2020 campaign page is nowhere to be found on the first page of results for the search term "Joe Biden." Joe Biden's presidential campaign is already sunk — at least on Google. "Joe Biden has a good feel for the American people and knows exactly what they really want deep down," reads JoeBiden.info, the parody site. "He's happy to open up and reveal himself to voters and will give a pounding to anybody who gets in his way!" Read more: Joe Biden's campaign taps data analytics company backed by former Google chairman Eric Schmidt Biden has been under scrutiny after a number of women made allegations that he touched them in ways that made them feel uncomfortable. After those allegations surfaced, Biden pledged to be more respectful. Biden's campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this article. The internet snafu suggests the Biden campaign is having early difficulty with its digital operation. That could pose trouble for the 76-year-old as he competes in a field that has already proven to be savvy with new tools for online outreach and fundraising. The problem has also emerged despite the Biden campaign's prolific spending on Google. An online tracker maintained by the progressive digital advertising firm ACRONYM shows the Biden campaign has spent more than $360,000 on Google platforms, racking up more spending on the site than all the other candidates in the crowded field except Sen. Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana. While his official campaign page is absent, Google does prominently display an official Biden advertisement for Biden-related searches. Meanwhile, JoeBiden.org links to a White House page titled "Trump Administration Accomplishments." The person who created the JoeBiden.info parody site is not named, and a disclaimer claims it is not funded "by any candidate, committee, organization, or PAC." In response to an inquiry from CNBC submitted through the parody website's contact form, the person behind it wrote that they identify as "closest to a libertarian." The person said they are an American citizen and that they have not been contacted by any candidate or organization about the website.<doc-sep>Former Vice President Joe Biden has suddenly and perhaps momentarily outstripped all of his Democratic opponents for the presidential nomination, but he’s having some website issues. If you’re looking for more information on the long-time senator from Delaware, a Google search will probably lead you to JoeBiden.info, a parody site that is neatly designed and brimming with Biden’s legislative record and pithy quotations from his long political career. The site makes note of Biden’s past conservative-leaning policies, such as supporting emphatic law and order, the 1994 crime bill — “three strikes and you’re out” — strong foreign policy and the Iraq war. It also notes his past opposition to same-sex marriage. (RELATED: Joe Biden Tells Europe That America Is ‘An Embarrassment) The site includes the infamous comment Biden offered his future running mate, then-Sen. Barack Obama, in 2007: “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” But it doesn’t just dwell on policy; the site offers a variety of pictures featuring Biden geting up close and personal with women and girls over the years, a legacy that Biden had to acknowledge for real after several women complained that they had endured some inappropriate touching from the politician. (RELATED: Biden Says He’s The ‘Most Progressive’ Democrat As He Almost Announces His 2020 Candidacy) “Uncle Joe is back and ready to take a hands-on approach to America’s problems!” the site proclaims. “Joe Biden has a good feel for the American people and knows exactly what they really want deep down. He’s happy to open up and reveal himself to voters and will give a pounding to anybody who gets in his way!” The site also chronicles Biden’s more current gaffes and misadventures, including accounts that his son, Hunter Biden, was sitting on the board of a Ukrainian gas company while dad was part of an Obama government trying to decide what to do about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The presidential candidate has also had to “clarify” his comments on China not being a threat to the United States and been criticized for his past comments on segregation being about “black pride” while he warns about a resurgence of Jim Crow in America. Follow David on Twitter<doc-sep>
Joe Biden may be leading in 2020 Democratic primary polls, but he’s struggling to get a footing in the digital space, with a parody anti-Biden website featuring him touching women and girls being the top search result on Google. Many social media users pointed out in recent days that Biden’s official 2020 campaign website is hard to find in a Google search – instead parody website JoeBiden.info is topping the results, giving an impression that it’s the main site. BIDEN MISTAKENLY CLAIMS MARGARET THATCHER, WHO DIED IN 2013, IS WORRIED ABOUT TRUMP The website, which looks like a campaign site, features images and GIFs of Biden touching women and girls, a behavior for which he recently apologized after multiple women came forward detailing the uncomfortable encounters with him. "Uncle Joe is back and ready to take a hands-on approach to America’s problems!" the site reads. "Joe Biden has a good feel for the American people and knows exactly what they really want deep down. He’s happy to open up and reveal himself to voters and will give a pounding to anybody who gets in his way!" The website goes on to detail common criticisms of Biden’s track record as a U.S. senator, including his support for the 1994 crime bill that paved way to mass incarceration or his vote to support the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It also features more recent controversies, including the alleged shady dealings in Ukraine, where Hunter Biden, his son, was employed at a Ukrainian energy company as a board member while the Obama administration was mulling a course of action amid Russia's invasion in Eastern Ukraine. Biden also publicly admitted that he threatened the Ukrainian president to fire a top prosecutor, who happened at the time to have been investigating corruption of the company his son was a board member. The prosecutor, who was fired after the threat, was reportedly facing criticisms back then by both Ukrainians and international officials for not bringing enough corruption prosecutions. Biden’s push to oust the prosecutor may have not been influenced by the probe of the company his son was involved in. BIDEN FACES SCRUTINY FOR DEMANDING OUSTER OF UKRAINE OFFICIAL PROBING FIRM THAT EMPLOYED HIS SON It remains unclear who created the JoeBiden.info website. Fox News’ review of registry history shows that the website has been frequently changing hands and up until 2013 it looked like a legitimate website for Biden. Since at least 2015, however, the website turned into a parody site, supposedly detailing the gaffes of Biden. Fox News’ contacted the individual who appears to have transformed the address into a mock site. The person did tell CNBC that he’s “closest to a libertarian” and that the website has tricked multiple people into thinking that it was a legitimate Biden’s 2020 campaign page. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I would assume Biden’s campaign knows about it though by now,” the person wrote. “I get thousands of Biden supporters coming to the site every day who fail to realize that it is a parody — asking for volunteer information, donation information, suggestions on how to handle the [Anita Hill] situation, or criticizing his use of ‘All men are created equal’ — no joke. ” The site has a disclaimer noting that it’s not funded “by any candidate, committee, organization, or PAC.”