Joe Biden Says He Hopes To Select a Running Mate By August 1

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden told CNN that he hopes to select a running mate by August 1.

Biden told the network that his campaign has interviewed a “lot” of people but “we haven’t gotten there yet.”

"There are women of color under consideration, and they're women from every part of the country -- so a lot of really qualified women that are ready to be president," said Biden, who vowed to choose a woman during the Democratic primary race.

"I think the two most important things are you got to pick someone who's compatible with you, both in terms of your style -- and my style and Barack's (were) very different, but they were compatible, they work with one another -- and someone who in fact, you would want to be the last person in the room when you're making a tough decision," he said.

Biden has four-person committee:

Biden’s vice presidential search committee is composed of former Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, a former presidential candidate and friend of Biden, Delaware Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and longtime Biden aide Cynthia Hogan.

Among those rumored to be in vice presidential contention are former presidential candidates like Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Amy Klobuchar. Biden is also said to be considering Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Florida Rep. Val Demings, and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.

Dems split:

African American activists have urged Biden not to select Klobuchar, pointing to her past as a prosecutor.

“We're seeing that black people in Minneapolis are arrested at nine times the rate of a white person for nonviolent offenses," Sunny Hostin, the co-host of “The View, said this week. "That says something to me, and I think, you know, when we talk about politics, and we talk about Joe Biden's selection for a vice presidential pick, that is why the black community has said that Amy Klobuchar is a nonstarter for them, because in many respects from 1999 to 2007, she declined to prosecute over two dozen cases involving police killings of unarmed people."

Meanwhile, former Michigan gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed urged Biden to pick Warren.

“Warren still offers something others cannot. She is a progressive in a campaign that absolutely must win progressive voters. And she has the kind of expertise and experience that will be absolutely critical to governing in a crisis,” he wrote.

On the Republican side, Sen. Lindsey Graham predicted that Biden would pick Harris.

“I think she’s the leading candidate,” he said. “She didn’t run a particularly effective campaign for president, but as a number two she would be tough. If I were a betting person, that’s who I would bet on.”

 

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