Barack Obama congratulates Joe Biden on Democratic nomination

Following the votes cast by delegates in the Democratic convention, former vice president Joe Biden has formally accepted the party’s nomination. Following the official announcement of the nomination, former president Barack Obama tweeted his congratulations to his former colleague.

Obama is set to headline the third night of the Democratic convention with his address, and the former president went on Twitter to express his congratulations to Biden. “Congrats Joe, I’m proud of you,” tweeted Obama, in response to Biden’s tweet expressing how honored he is to formally and officially accept the Democratic nomination for the upcoming elections against Republican incumbent Donald Trump.

Biden served with Obama for two terms as his vice president and the two former colleagues are known for their friendship. Obama’s endorsement of Biden back in April marked his return to the political scene and has actively made the case for his former vice president on numerous occasions. Obama has since then become more vocal about his criticisms towards Trump as well.

Nevertheless, even prior to accepting the nomination, Biden has maintained a lead in many public opinion polls, including polls in battleground states. Historically Republican states have also seen a head-to-head battle between Trump and Biden in the polls.

Prior to Obama’s appearance in the Democratic convention, a teaser of what Democrats can expect from his address was revealed in a statement. Spokeswoman Katie Hill revealed that the former president will criticize Republicans’ attempts to sabotage mail-in voting as well as attempts to block access to ballots.

“President Obama will highlight the cynical moves by the current administration and the Republican party to discourage Americans from voting. He’ll make a pointed case that democracy itself is on the line -- along with the chance to create a better version of it,” said Hill.

Previews of the former president’s speech will also be his response to the Trump campaign and what other top Democrats have long suspected, which was that Trump does not want people voting as he knows he will lose the more people cast their votes. Somehow echoing the criticism made by his wife Michelle Obama towards his successor, the former president’s speech also notes how Trump has not grown into his job as commander-in-chief.