Democratic front-runner and former Vice President Joe Biden did not shut the door on the idea of having a woman as his 2020 running mate in an interview on Friday, saying it would be great to have a female vice president.
“I think it’d be great to have a female VP, and if I don’t win, it’d be great to have a female president,” Biden told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Thursday.
“The question is whose issues are best prepared in their wheelhouse, they’ve demonstrated they know how to deal with them,” he continued.
Biden said that while he believes a Democratic ticket can win without having a woman, he said he thinks it would be a plus to have a woman on the ticket.
Having a woman on the 2020 Democratic presidential ticket has been viewed as a priority for a number of Democratic presidential hopefuls, including Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who has vowed to pick a woman for his running mate if he wins the nomination.
The former vice president also did not shut the door on picking Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who went after Biden for his record on school busing in the first Democratic debate, as a running mate.
“Look, one of the things I’m not going to get into because it got news before, is when I was asked, I don’t even have the nomination, and I’m presuming who I might pick as a vice president,” he said when asked if he would choose Harris. “That’s easily flipped on me in saying Biden’s being arrogant. Biden thinks I’ll have him as my vice president. So I’m not going to comment on any individual.”