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In First N.H. Campaign Visit, Biden Promises to Unite Americans

Former Vice President Joe Biden says he wants to unite Americans, restore the middle class and “restore the soul of this country.”

The reasons he gives for running for president could be further boiled down to two words: Donald Trump.

In Hampton Monday, at his first stop in New Hampshire since declaring his candidacy for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, Biden kept circling back and referring to Trump, though not by name, as the problem.

“This election is bigger than any you've been engaged in, not because I'm running or anybody else is running, but because of who occupies the office,” he said “This election is, quite frankly, bigger than politics."

Biden said uniting the country is critical.

“If you don’t do that, you end up where we are now. You end up with a president who can divide the country based on the ability to garner more power for himself,” he said, “and be in a situation where you just can’t get anything done.”

Biden visited Somersworth, before an event Monday night in Manchester alongside former New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch.

Biden saw some familiar faces in the crowd at his first event.

Mary Carey Foley, the daughter of the late Portsmouth Mayor Eileen Foley, jumped up as Biden walked into the room. She supported his first run for president back in 1988. The two embraced before Foley held Biden’s arm in the air for the cameras in the back of the room.

 

Dan is a long-time New Hampshire journalist who has written for outlets including Foster's Daily Democrat, The Citizen of Laconia, The Boston Globe, and The Eagle-Tribune. He comes to NHPR from the New Hampshire Union Leader, where he reported on state, local, and national politics.
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