FILE PHOTO: Former Vice President Joe Biden who is mulling a 2020 presidential candidacy, speaks to the media after speaking at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ (IBEW) construction and maintenance conference in Washington, U.S., April 5, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday formally announced his entry into the race for the Democratic party’s presidential nomination for the 2020 election.

“We are in the battle for the soul of this nation,” Biden said in a stark video released online, calling on voters to deny Republican U.S. President Donald Trump a second term in office.