US 2020 Election: Joe Biden, announces presidential bid

Former US Vice-President Joe Biden has declared a presidential bid, putting an end to months of speculation.

In a video announcement, Mr Biden argued that the "core values of the nation... our very democracy, everything that has made America America, is at stake".

The 76-year-old, who has already run twice for the presidency, enters a crowded race for the 2020 Democratic nomination.

He is up against 19 other hopefuls. They include Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders. Former vice president Joe Biden opened his third campaign for the presidency on Thursday, taking direct aim at President Trump and declaring that “we are in the battle for the soul of this nation.”

A Democratic force for nearly five decades, Biden built his career as a campaigner on his connection with working-class voters, including white voters he has sometimes called “the ethnic vote” — Midwestern Irish, Italian and Polish Catholics, or South Florida Jews. Mr. Biden is poised to embark on an ambitious and highly visible campaign schedule, starting with a Friday appearance on ABC’s “The View,” in his first television interview as a candidate. He plans to visit a Pittsburgh union hall on Monday to make remarks on the economy, before embarking on a multiweek tour of the early primary states and California, culminating in a May 18 speech in Philadelphia about “unifying America,” his campaign said.

As he joined a crowded Democratic field