Biden Says He Would Prefer a Woman or Person of Color as Running Mate
Former vice president Joe Biden said Tuesday that he would prefer to choose a woman or a person of color as his running mate should he win the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
“Whomever I pick, preferably it will be someone who was of color and/or a different gender, but I’m not making that commitment until I know that the person I’m dealing with I can completely and thoroughly trust as authentic and on the same page,” Biden said.
He added, however, that the main quality he would prioritize in a potential vice president is being “simpatico” with his values.
“The one thing I know is the job of being president in 2020 as in 2016 and in 2008 is too big for any one person,” former president Barack Obama’s running mate said. “You’ve got to have somebody you can turn to.”
Obama “knew that he and I had the same value set and the same political disposition as what we should do, and he knew if I ever had any doubt, I would come back to him,” Biden continued. “That’s what I most want in whomever I pick. They’ve got to be simpatico with what I stand for and with what I want to get done.”
Some black Democratic lawmakers have floated Senator Kamala Harris, who is of Jamaican and Tamil Indian heritage and is running against Biden for president, as a potential running mate should Biden secure the Democratic nomination. Rumors swirled earlier this year that Biden has also considered tapping Stacey Abrams, who lost her bid for Georgia governor last year but made headlines for alleging voter suppression afterward.
Biden told CNN last month that it “would be great” to have a female running mate but declined to get into specifics, saying he did not want to be perceived as “arrogant.”
