Washington:
Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi on Monday endorsed former vice president Joe Biden’s 2020 White House bid, calling the presumptive Democratic nominee a leader who is the “personification of hope, courage” and can help America out of the coronavirus crisis.
Pelosi, in a prerecorded video, said that Biden has been a voice of reason and resilience.
“As we face coronavirus, Joe has been a voice of reason and resilience, with a clear path to lead us out of this crisis, the 80-year-old California Democrat was quoted as saying by the Washington Post.
With the two key endorsements, decks are now clear for a direct contest between Biden, 77 and the 73-year-old incumbent President Donald Trump, who is seeking re-election in the November 2020 presidential polls.
“Today, I am proud to endorse Joe Biden for President of the United States because he will be an extraordinary President. He knows how to get the job done,” Pelosi said in the video.
Citing his work on the Affordable Care Act and Cancer Moonshot programme, Pelosi said Biden has “been with us every step of the way to protect American’s quality affordable health care.”
“For these and other reasons, I am proud to endorse Joe Biden for President, a leader who is the personification of hope and courage, values authenticity and integrity,” she said.
Her endorsement follows former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Al Gore, Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren , among others, in backing Biden in taped testimonials, the New York Post reported.
Pelosi has earlier alleged that the Trump administration has failed in handling the coronavirus crisis.
Last week, she said that, “Frankly, I don’t pay that much attention to the president’s tweets against me. As I’ve said, he’s a poor leader. He’s always trying to avoid responsibility and assign blame.”
The number of COVID-19 cases in the US are more than 965,000 and 54,877 deaths have been reported.
