Biden says he will pick woman as VP

Former Vice President Joe Biden vowed on Sunday to choose a woman as his running mate if he wins the Democratic presidential nomination. 

“I commit that I will, in fact, pick a woman to be vice president,” Biden said at a Democratic presidential debate in Washington. “There are a number of women who are qualified to be president tomorrow.”

CNN moderator Dana Bash asked Biden again if he was committed to picking a woman after he answered a separate question, and the former vice president replied affirmatively. “Yes,” he said.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said he would “in all likelihood” pick a woman as his running mate if he could upset Biden and win the nomination. 

Sanders added that more important than choosing a woman as his running mate would be choosing a progressive to run alongside him. 

“There are progressive women out there,” he said.

Joe Biden commits to choosing a woman as his running mate at CNN’s #DemDebate. Bernie Sanders says “in all likelihood” he will too. https://t.co/lDorNOTsr2 pic.twitter.com/1lZRIfZBZL

— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) March 16, 2020

Both candidates have come under pressure to choose women as their potential running mates, especially after Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) dropped out of the presidential race. 

With Warren’s exit from the race, the Democratic nominating contest has come down to two white men in their 70s, a remarkable outcome in a primary field that began last year as the most diverse in U.S. history. 

Biden had previously expressed openness to choosing a woman as his running mate, but it wasn’t until Sunday that he made a firm commitment to doing so.