Former Vice President Joe Biden entered the 2020 race for the Democratic presidential nomination with a video announcement Thursday.

Biden enters the race as the instant frontrunner, leading in nearly all polls taken of the Democratic primary. Furthermore, Biden remains popular with the American public as a whole, having a 56 percent favorability rating, according to a recent Gallup poll.

Nevertheless, recently published stories of Biden touching women without their consent have led to further scrutiny of his past.

As a senator, Biden chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Thomas was accused by his former staffer Anita Hill of sexual harassment, and she gave testimony to the committee on that harassment during his confirmation hearing.

Hill, a black woman, was thereafter subjected to questions by the committee which was composed entirely of white men, including the question “Are you a scorned woman,” asked by the late Sen. Howell Heflin, D-Ala..

“To this day, I regret I couldn’t give [Hill] the kind of hearing she deserved,” Biden said in March. “I wish I could have done something.”

As chairman of the committee, Biden controlled the proceedings of the hearing.

Biden also served as vice president from 2009 to 2017 under President Barack Obama. This is his third run for the presidency, having made failed bids in 1988 and 2008.

Biden considered a run for president in 2016, but declined to enter the race on account of the stress it would put on his family in the wake of the death of his son Beau, according to Biden’s 2017 book Promise Me, Dad.

Before becoming vice president, Biden was elected to the U.S. Senate from Delaware six consecutive times.