As he geared up to announce his expected run for the White House in 2020, former Vice President Joe Biden was working the phones as recently as a few days ago to line up fundraising support.
One of his lead backers, former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, said he recently received a call from Comcast executive David Cohen about a potential Biden fundraiser at his home in Philadelphia. Then came the message from Biden himself late last week.
Biden told Rendell “he was going to do it [run for president]. He was going to do it with all his energy and heart. He thinks it’s the right thing to do and the right thing for the country,” Rendell told CNBC in an interview.
Biden will announce his candidacy through an online video Thursday and hold his first public event as a candidate Monday in Pittsburgh, according to a Biden aide who declined to be named. Biden represented Delaware in the U.S. Senate for more than three decades, but he routinely highlights his roots in the blue-collar Pennsylvania city of Scranton. Read more