But that is changing as Biden and his campaign move closer to a decision expected to come early next month.
Biden’s announcement that he would choose a woman in March was largely greeted with cheers, but the terms of an inside-party debate over representation at the top of the ticket have been sharpened in recent months. The question now, one that has been amplified by more than a month of anti-racist protests across the country, is whether Biden should limit her list to women of color and, more specifically, to black women.
On Sunday, Duckworth, who is Thai-American, passed by when CNN’s Dana Bash asked if Biden should choose a black woman for the job.
“The Biden campaign has its own process they’re going through. And I’m sure Vice President Biden will choose the right person to be with him as he takes this country out of the mess Donald Trump has brought us into,” Duckworth said.
Pressured by a more direct response, Duckworth did not move, saying that Biden “knows best” what he needs from a running mate who was not in “any of us to dictate to him.”
Biden’s campaign declined to comment.
His potential candidacy comes when several prominent black leaders have publicly suggested that he choose a black running mate and Senator Kamala Harris, former Obama White House national security adviser Susan Rice, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and 2018 Democratic Democratic nominee for governor Georgia Stacey Abrams have been among those reported to be in the race.
In late April, Harris, widely seen as the front-runner at this stage, said in an interview that he believed “it is important to have a woman of color or a woman” on the ticket, but declined to go ahead.
“I won’t tell Joe Biden what to do,” said Harris. “I want him to choose the best-equipped running mate to help him win because, more than anything, Joe Biden has to win, we can’t suffer another four years of Donald Trump in the White House.”
Jill Biden has appeared with at least four women who are currently believed to be competing to join the former vice president on the Democratic fine, including Duckworth, at virtual campaign and fundraising events in recent months. Last week at a virtual fundraiser, Jill Biden highlighted Duckworth’s military service and said the senator inspires people across the country.
“Tammy, it has been a pleasure meeting you over the years, especially in our work at Joining Forces,” said Jill Biden.
“And you have served our nation in many ways, in the Army, in Veterans Affairs and on Capitol Hill. And as a veteran, disability advocate and woman of color, and the first woman to have a child while serving in the Senate, you inspire so many people in this country, and we are honored to have your support. “
From Iraq veteran to legislator
Born in Bangkok, Thailand to a Thai mother and an American father, Duckworth grew up in Southeast Asia. His father was a veteran of the US Army who came to the region to fight in Vietnam and then stayed to work to help the refugees. Duckworth’s family eventually moved to Hawaii when he was in high school, and Duckworth said his family relied on food stamps while growing up.
“Growing up, my family relied on food stamps, now called SNAP, to survive. I’m glad to join my colleagues and call @USDA to ensure that SNAP recipients can receive grocery deliveries and sidewalk pickup during crisis # COVID19. No one should fight to get food right now b / c trust it, “Duckworth tweeted in May.
He graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1989 with a degree in political science and then received a Master of Arts in International Affairs from the Elliott College of International Affairs at George Washington University. Duckworth completed a doctorate in Human Services at Capella University in March 2015.
In 2004, Duckworth was deployed to Iraq as a Blackhawk helicopter pilot for the Illinois Army National Guard. In November of that year, Duckworth’s helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and lost both legs and partial use of his right arm. Duckworth received the Purple Heart that year and served in the Reserve Forces for 23 years.
After unsuccessfully running for Congress in 2006, Duckworth was appointed by the then-governor. Rod Blagojevich will head the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. He served in office for three years, and then in 2009, then-President Barack Obama appointed Duckworth as assistant secretary to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
Duckworth was elected to Congress in 2012, defeating the then representative. Joe Walsh, a Republican radio presenter and conservative for Tea Party. She served two terms on behalf of the Illinois 8th Congressional District before being elected in 2016, easily dismissing Republican incumbent Mark Kirk.
In April 2018, Duckworth became the first American senator to give birth while in office. Later that month, she also became the first female legislator to cast a vote in the Senate with her baby by her side. Duckworth spearheaded a successful push to change long-standing rules to allow newborns to enter the Senate for the first time during voting.
She has been a fierce critic of President Donald Trump. On Sunday, Duckworth condemned Trump’s divisive message on Mount Rushmore over the weekend, saying “her priorities are all wrong” and added that she has failed in her response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“What really struck me about the President’s speech on Mount Rushmore was that he spent more time worrying about honoring the dead Confederates than talking about the lives of the 130,000 Americans who lost their lives to Covid-19 or warning Russia to walk away from the reward they are putting on the heads of the Americans, “Duckworth told CNN’s Dana Bash in” State of the Union. ” “I mean his priorities are all wrong here. He should be talking about what we are going to do to overcome this pandemic. What are we going to do to push Russia back? And instead, he didn’t have time for that.”
In November 2018, Duckworth told CNN that the president “failed miserably” in supporting American troops and their families. She called Trump a “coward” and said he “used his privilege” to repeatedly defer military service.
Duckworth has criticized the war he waged. In a Politico op-ed, he called on federal leaders to overlook the cost, in blood and money, of ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Our efforts in Iraq cost our economy over a trillion dollars, and we will care for our Iraq and Afghanistan veterans for at least the next 50 years. The next time we go to war, we really should understand the sacrifices that our service offers members and the American people will have to do it, “he wrote. “So when my colleagues start playing the drums of war, I want to be there, standing on my artificial legs under the great dome of the Capitol, to remind them of the true costs of war.”
Duckworth is one of the founding co-chairs of the Environmental Justice Committee, and serves on the Senate Special Committee on Democrats on Climate Crisis, the Armed Services Committee, the Committee on Environment and Public Works, the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.
In early May, Duckworth called for the CARES Act, the coronavirus stimulus package to be passed in March, to provide immediate help to families with newborn babies. The senator also recently sponsored a bill to prohibit the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from charging copays to veterans for preventive services related to Covid-19.
Biden VP Considerations
Pressure on Biden to make history with his election (there have been two vice presidential candidates, both white) has occasionally led other people on the field, such as Senator Elizabeth Warren, to politically difficult conversations.
In June, WCVB asked Warren in Boston if he believed Biden should select a woman of color. Not wanting to be ruled out, the Massachusetts senator did not compromise and said it was Biden’s decision.
“Every woman considered is extremely qualified and would be an asset to the vice president both in his campaign for the presidency and in the White House,” Warren told WCVB. “Whichever one I choose, I am 100% committed to doing whatever it takes to elect Joe Biden and help elect Democrats from top to bottom. I am fully involved.”
Abrams, who has been exceptionally outspoken in promoting her qualifications for the position, has given the most direct answer to the question about race. During an appearance on “The View” in April, co-host Sunny Hostin, who is black and Puerto Rican, asked if Abrams would consider it “a slap in the face of black female voters who are credited, really, for reviving their candidacy.
“I would share your concern about not choosing a woman of color, because women of color, particularly black women, are the strongest part of the Democratic Party, the most loyal, but that loyalty is not simply how we vote.” Abrams said. “It is how we work, and if we want to indicate that that work will continue, that we are going to reach not only certain segments of our community, but the entire country, then we need a ticket that reflects the diversity of America.”
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, when she announced her departure from consideration for the position, was less circumspect. She called the former vice president to select a woman of color.
“I really think, as I told the vice president last night when I called him, that I think this is a time to put a woman of color on that ticket,” Klobuchar said in an interview on MSNBC. “And there are so many incredibly skilled women.”
Klobuchar’s statement was widely read as less prescriptive than additional evidence of where Biden’s campaign was headed.
CNN’s Eric Bradner contributed to this report.
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