Obama Endorses Biden, Says Former VP Has ‘Qualities We Need’

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Barack Obama has endorsed Joe Biden in a video saying Biden has “all the qualities we need in a president right now.”

That gives Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, a boost from the party’s biggest fundraiser and one of its most popular figures. Obama and Biden are known to be close friends from their two terms in the White House, and Biden leaned heavily on his affiliation with Obama throughout the Democratic primary. Obama released a 12-minute video on Tuesday endorsing his former vice president.

Obama is eager to take a more active public role in the campaign, aides say.

(Story written By ALEXANDRA JAFFE, JULIE PACE and BILL BARROW/AP)