Joe Biden said he'd pick Michelle Obama as his running mate 'in a heartbeat' but wouldn't commit to choosing a woman of color
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Former Vice President Joe Biden said Monday his 2020 campaign was "just beginning the process" of selecting his running mate.
Biden, the Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nominee, said he would consider choosing former First Lady Michelle Obama, but admitted she was probably not interested in the role.
Obama has said she's not interested in running for office.
Biden has previously pledged to pick a woman to serve as his potential vice president, but would not commit to picking a woman of color on Monday.
Former Vice President Joe Biden said Monday he would consider former first lady Michelle Obama as his running mate — but he declined to commit to choosing a woman of color as his pick.
"I'd take her in a heartbeat," Biden told Pittsburgh the CBS affiliate TV station KDKA on Monday. "She's brilliant. She knows the way around. She is a really fine woman. The Obamas are great friends."
"I don't think she has any desire to live near the White House again," he added.
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Biden said he was in the preliminary stages of choosing a running mate. He told KDKA his campaign would "shortly name the committee to review" potential candidates for the position.
Biden would not commit to selecting a woman of color running mate, though he said he would commit to putting a woman of color on the Supreme Court.
"I'll commit to that be a woman because it is very important that my administration look like the public, look like the nation," he said. "And there will be, [I'm] committed that there will be a woman of color on the Supreme Court. That doesn't mean there won't be a vice president as well."
Michelle Obama has said she doesn't want to run for office
In 2018, when calls and speculation mounted over whether the former first lady might consider a 2020 run for the White House, Obama said she was not interested in running for the office.
"As an older leader, I think an important part of leadership is stepping out of the way and making room," she said.
In both 2018 and 2019, Michelle Obama was named the most admired woman in the US according to Gallup's annual poll.
Also on Monday, the former first lady on April 20 began "Mondays With Michelle Obama," a live-streaming of her reading a children's book each week.
"At this time when so many families are under so much stress, I'm excited to give kids a chance to practice their reading and hear some wonderful stories (and to give parents and caretakers a much-needed break)," Obama said about her project, a collaboration with PBS, Penguin Young Readers, and Random House Children's Books, which occurs amid nationwide school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden's comments come as calls mount for the former vice president to choose a woman of color to serve as his running mate. Biden has already pledged that he would choose a woman to complete his ticket.
AP Photo/Michael A. McCoy
Stacey Abrams, the African-American former Georgia House of Representatives minority leader who in 2018 lost in a close race for the state's governorship, also recently threw her name into the mix. She said this month that she would make an "excellent running mate" to the former vice president. Biden became the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee for president April 8 when his last-remaining opponent, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders ended his bid for the oval office.
Names like Abrams; Sens. Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, and Catherine Cortez Masto; Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; and Florida Rep. Val Demings have been circulated as potential vice presidential picks.
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