Joe Biden shed a little more light on his vice presidential selection process during an interview Monday night with Joy Reid on his new MSNBC show ‘The ReidOut’.
“I am not committed to naming anyone other than the people I have named, including four black women,” Biden Reid said when asked if he would name a black woman for the number 2 position.
Biden did not specify which four black female politicians are being examined, although he again promised that his statement “will resemble the United States.”
Joe Biden shed more light on his vice presidential selection process during an interview Monday night with MSNBC’s Joy Reid for his new show ‘The ReidOut.’ Biden said four of the women on his list are black.
MSNBC host Joy Reid (left) asked Joe Biden (left) if he had promised to choose a woman of color as his running mate. She said she had committed herself to nothing more than choosing one of the women on her research list and that her administration “will look like the United States.”
Senator Kamala Harris is among those Biden’s campaign is investigating to be her running mate. Harris ran against Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary, although he dropped out of the race before the votes were cast.
Representatives Val Demings (left) and Karen Bass (right) are also potentially on Biden’s list of black women as career partners. Demings is the former Orlando police chief, while California Bass could help Biden win more progressives
President Obama’s national security adviser Susan Rice served with the former vice president in the last administration and is said to be among the black women he is investigating. She comes equipped with years of national security experience.
If Biden is interested in trying to make Georgia a decisive state, he could choose Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (left) or former Georgia government candidate Stacey Abrams (right).
Among those rumored to be on the list: Senator Kamala Harris, who competed in the Democratic primaries against Biden, Rep. Val Demings, a Florida congresswoman who previously served as the Orlando police chief, and the mayor of Atlanta. Kiesha Lance Bottoms.
Additionally, former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice, former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, and California Rep. Karen Bass, who comes with strong progressive credentials.
“So it is important that my administration, I promise you, will look like the United States,” Biden told Reid. ‘From the vice president, to the Supreme Court, to cabinet posts, to all major posts in the White House. It will resemble the United States. It is critically important that this be the case. I can guarantee you that. ‘
Biden said he was still in the midst of the background investigation process for a running mate, explaining that the campaign is receiving detailed reports on the candidates, that it took “approximately six weeks” to compile and that those reports are being finalized.
He said the process resembled a “public physical exam.”
“There is a two-hour investigative report from lawyers and women and men of color, as well as whites, who are investigating,” said the former vice president. “And so far we have examined four candidates in a two-hour background investigation.”
“And then when I’m done examining all the candidates, I’ll narrow the list down and then we’ll see, and then I’ll have one-on-one conversations with each of the remaining candidates,” Biden said.
In Reid’s show, Biden boasted that he had long had the support of black women.
“And by the way, black women have supported me my entire career,” she said. “You all act like there is suddenly an epiphany in South Carolina.”
Biden’s support among black Democrats in South Carolina changed his fortune in his party primaries.
While Biden struggled in Iowa and then New Hampshire, and took a distant second place on Nevada committees to rival Bernie Sanders, Biden overwhelmingly won the southern first primary in late February.
The momentum that sprang from South Carolina, and some key endorsements from longtime rivals, including Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, enabled Biden to have a successful Super Tuesday, and the primary ended essentially in March.
Sanders, the last standing rival, launched his support for Biden in April, after both candidates were withdrawn from the campaign due to the threat of the coronavirus.
Speaking of his strong support for black women, Biden said, “And they are, as the old saying goes, the ones that led me to the dance.”
“I have been loyal, they have been loyal to me,” he added.
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