Vice President Biden offered high praise for Bernie Sanders after a meeting with the presidential candidate on Thursday and stopped short of endorsing his opponent, Hillary Clinton.
{mosads}Biden is expected to back Clinton, but he declined to offer her a quick endorsement like President Obama did.
After an afternoon meeting at the Naval Observatory, the vice president congratulated Sanders for “energizing so many new voters and bringing them into the Democratic Party,” a spokesperson said.
“They discussed the need for the national conversation to continue to focus on the defining fight of our time: retaining and expanding access to the middle class, and the need for the Democratic Party to continue to embrace these new voters as we work toward victory in November,” according to Biden’s office.
Obama formally endorsed Clinton just over an hour after he met with Sanders in the Oval Office. The timing of the president’s endorsement seemed designed to nudge the liberal senator to exit the race.
Biden is holding off on officially backing in a news cycle dominated by endorsements from Obama and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), which will come Thursday night.
But the timing could raise questions about the vice president’s plans. Biden considered running against Clinton for the Democratic nomination but ultimately decided against a run last fall.
He was sometimes critical of the former secretary of State during her primary campaign, which irked some Clinton backers.
In recent weeks, however, Biden has been a vocal supporter of Clinton, seeking to promote party unity ahead of the November election.
“I feel confident that Hillary will be the nominee, and I feel confident she’ll be the next president,” Biden said in an May interview with ABC News.