Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, told MSNBC on Monday that he has four Black women on his shortlist for vice president — putting him closer to selecting a running mate a month before he accepts the party's nomination.
Biden told MSNBC's Joy Reid on the premiere of her prime time show "The ReidOut," however, that he is not committed to a Black woman definitely being his running mate.
"I am not committed any but the people I've named and among them are four Black women," Biden said.
If elected, Biden, 77, would be the oldest-ever president-elect, which has put an intense focus on his pick for a running-mate. Biden has spoken often of seeing himself as a transitional presidential, leading many politics-watchers to believe that his running mate could eventually be the leader of the Democratic Party and, if Biden won in 2020, the likely Democratic nominee in 2024.
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He said that it will take roughly six weeks to complete the vetting and his campaign is doing a "detailed analysis" of contenders to narrow down the list before next month's nearly all-virtual convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
"Black women have supported me my whole career," Biden said. "I have been loyal and they have been loyal to me — and so it's important that my administration, I promise you, will look like America."
He added, "Both from vice president to Supreme Court to cabinet positions to every major position in the White House. It's critically important that be the case."
- Biden sharply criticized Trump on his coronavirus response, saying that the president "surrendered" and put up a "white flag" dealing with COVID-19. "I have never seen a president who has been so self-serving in the conduct of the office," Biden said
- Biden said he would appoint a vaccine czar and pour $25 billion into coordinating a vaccine distribution to every American, conduct more testing and contact tracing, and continue to give federal stimulus aid to small businesses and Americans who are struggling economically
- Trump has "absolutely zero sense of empathy" Biden said on the president's attempts to repeal Obamacare as Americans are suffering from the virus and many are unemployed. "He talks about taking away health insurance and he says he's going to replace it with what? I quite frankly don't get it," Biden said. "I don't know how he thinks it appeals to the American people.
- On purported foreign interference into U.S. elections, Biden said it is a "violation of our sovereignty" and if it happens "there will be response in kind — It will not go unstated, unnoticed or unreported. Putin "knows I mean what I say," he said.