His strategy amounts to a bet that ideology and policy matter less to Democratic primary voters than their desire for victory over a president who has upended social and political values that liberals hold dear. If we give Donald Trump eight years in the White House, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation, who we are, and I cannot stand by and watch that happen, Biden said in a three-and-a-half-minute announcement video, in which he linked Trump to the violent neo-Nazi demonstration in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017.

Trump responded on Twitter with a message addressed to Sleepy Joe. I only hope you have the intelligence, long in doubt, to wage a successful primary campaign, Trump tweeted, adding that if you make it, I will see you at the Starting Gate. Bidens focus on Trump contrasted with the campaign announcements of most of the 19 other Democratic hopefuls, who have emphasized their own messages over Trump bashing in their efforts to stand out from the crowd.

But Biden has less need to define himself than other candidates, and attacking the president may be more effective now than it was in 2016, when Hillary Clinton focused on Trumps negatives and lost. Democratic voters have now had a few years to see what the Trump presidency has wrought. Bidens video centered on the moment in 2017 when Trump responded to the Charlottesville clash between neo-Nazis and counter-protesters by saying that there were very fine people on both sides. In that moment, I knew the threat to this nation was unlike any Ive ever seen in my lifetime, Biden said.