Joe Biden says he will choose his running mate by August 1 as pressure grows for him to pick a black woman after his 'you ain't black' gaffe

  • Joe Biden said he would name his running mate by August 1 
  • He said his selection committee was in the process of making first cuts 
  • 'We're in the process of deciding the basic cut - about whether or not they really want it. Are they comfortable?,' Biden said during online fundraiser 
  • Biden promised he would choose a female running mate 
  • Pressure is increasing for him to pick a black woman
  • Kamala Harris and Stacey Abrams are on his vice presidential short list
  • Michelle Obama is a Democratic dream pick but the former first lady has made it clear several times she will not run for public office 

Joe Biden said he would name his running mate by August 1 as pressure increases on him to pick a black woman after he had to apologize for telling popular radio show host Charlamagne tha God that he 'ain't black' if he can't discern the better presidential candidate between Biden and President Trump.

Biden has vowed to put a woman on the ticket and has several names in consideration, including prominent black politicians Kamala Harris and Stacey Abrams. 

Michelle Obama is a Democratic dream pick but the former first lady has made it clear several times she will not run for public office.  

Joe Biden said he would name his running mate by August 1

Joe Biden said he would name his running mate by August 1

Stacey Abrams is on Biden's short list for vice president
Kamala Harris is also on Biden's vice presidential short list

Biden is considering Stacey Abrams (left) and Kamala Harris (right) as his running mate

Michelle Obama is a Democratic dream pick for vice president but the former first lady has made it clear several times she will not run for public office

Michelle Obama is a Democratic dream pick for vice president but the former first lady has made it clear several times she will not run for public office

The August 1 date would give Biden time to introduce his running mate to the country ahead of the Democratic National Convention, whose start date was moved to August 17 amid concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

He told supporters at virtual fundraiser Wednesday night he hosted with Pete Buttigieg that his selection committee had interviewed the contenders and they were in the process of making the first round of cuts.  

 'We're in the process of deciding the basic cut - about whether or not they really want it. Are they comfortable? They've asked a lot of questions,' Biden said. 

Biden appointed a four-person group - former Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd, Delaware Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and longtime aide Cynthia Hogan - to help him pick his running mate.

He told his supporters he wanted someone 'simpatico with me.' 

'I need somebody who in fact is simpatico with me, both in terms of personality as well as substance. That means that they don't have to agree with me on everything, but they have to have the same basic approach to how we handle the economy and how we handle everything,' Biden said during the online event.

'And so I want to make sure that wherever I speak to, whoever I have, has some qualities that I don't possess, as well as is willing to, in fact, tell me the truth, but also do it in a way that is between the two of us between her and me so that they can, in fact, be completely candid with me, because I want to have people around me that have strengths and capacities I don't,' he added. 

Several women - who span the liberal to moderate spectrum of the Democratic Party - are said to be in consideration. 

But pressure is increasing on the former vice president to name a black woman as his partner.

Biden came under fire from black activists last week after telling popular radio show host Charlamagne tha God: 'Well, I will tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black.'

Charlamagne the God replied, 'it has nothing to do with Trump.'  'I want something for my community,' he told the former vice president. 

After the interview aired and activists erupted, Biden apologized.

'I should not have been so cavalier. I've never, never, ever taken the African-American community for granted,' he said. 'I shouldn't have been such a wise guy.' 

As he makes his final decision on who to pick as his running mate, Biden is hosting events with some of the contenders, which could be a way to test the chemistry of the potential Democratic ticket.

On Saturday, he will hold a virtual organizing event in Georgia with Abrams. She shot to national fame during her failed gubernatorial bid in 2018, in which high-profile supporters like Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey campaigned for her. 

She blamed her loss on voter suppression efforts by her rival Brian Kemp, who was the secretary of state at the time. Abrams turned her loss into a platform for voting rights, an issue of deep importance to the Democratic base. But her highest elected office has been the Georgia General Assembly, which has led to questions about her experience for national office.

Rep. Val Demings, a House member from Florida, has been mentioned for vice president
Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice has been named as a possible vice presidential pick

Rep. Val Demings, a House member from Florida, (left) and former National Security Adviser Susan Rice (right) have been named as potential vice presidential picks

Former Vice President Joe Biden (right) has to apologize for remarks he made to 'The Breakfast Club' host Charlamagne tha God (left)

Former Vice President Joe Biden (right) has to apologize for remarks he made to 'The Breakfast Club' host Charlamagne tha God (left) 

Harris, whose father is Jamaican and whose mother is Indian, has held multiple women for Biden events. 

Her experience as a senator and California's attorney general give her the qualifications for the vice presidential pick but her chemistry with Biden could be an issue. Liberals also are likely to be disappointed if Harris is chosen. 

Biden and Harris had a famous spat over busing during the Democrats' first primary debate last June, though she's endorsed the ex-vice president since then. Harris was also close to Beau Biden, the former vice president's late son. 

Rep. Val Demings, a House member from Florida who served as an impeachment manager, is also getting some attention. She has a compelling personal story having grown up in poverty to become the first female police chief of the Orlando Police Department.

She defended Biden's radio interview comments when she appeared on CNN Sunday.

THE WOMEN WHO COULD BE JOE BIDEN'S VICE PRESIDENTIAL PICK 

STACEY ABRAMS 

Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate, minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives

She says, 'I would be willing to serve.'   

 

CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO 

Senator from Nevada 

She says she's 'honored' to be considered, while staff told CBS News she's 'not actively campaigning' for the job 

 

TAMMY DUCKWORTH 

Senator from Illinois 

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin said Duckworth would be interviewed by Biden's team 'soon.'  

 

 KAMALA HARRIS

California senator, former 2020 candidate

She says: 'Obviously I would be honored if I were being considered.' 

 

AMY KLOBUCHAR

Minnesota senator, former 2020 candidate

She says:  'I'm just not going to engage in hypotheticals. ... Joe Biden was a great vice president. He knows what it takes to be a good vice president. He's going to make that decision.'  

 

MICHELLE OBAMA 

Former first lady 

She says 'I have no intention of running for office, ever,' in her 2018 memoir 'Becoming.' 

 

SUSAN RICE 

Former ambassador to the United Nation, Obama national security adviser

She says she 'certainly would say yes' if Joe Biden asked.     

 

ELIZABETH WARREN

Senator from Massachusetts, former 2020 candidate 

She answered 'yes' when asked by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow in April if she would say yes, if asked 

 

GRETCHEN WHITMER 

Governor of Michigan 

She says, she's had a conversation with some people at the Biden campaign. 'It was just an opening conversation and it's not something that I would call a professional formalized vetting.'

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'Look, the vice president shouldn't have said it. He apologized for it. But I really think the gall and the nerve of President Trump to try to use this in his campaign — he who since day one has done everything within his power, and of course supported by his enablers, to divide this country, particularly along racial lines,' Demings said on CNN's 'State of the Union.' 

Susan Rice, President Obama's first ambassador to the United Nations who moved into the role of his national security adviser, said in an interview earlier this month she 'certainly would say yes' if Biden asked her to appear on the ticket. 

But she was likely damaged after the Trump administration declassified an email she sent to herself on Obama's last day in office that addressed her concerns about Michael Flynn, Trump's pick to succeed her as national security adviser. Trump and his allies have used that email to fuel his 'Obamagate' conspiracy theory. 

Senator Elizabeth Warren will host a high-dollar fundraiser for Biden on June 15, despite decrying such events during her failed presidential bid. The event is likely a testing ground to see how she does with rich donors who were wary of her attacks.

Warren could help Biden with progressives, though she fell out of favor with some supporters of fellow progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders for not endorsing his run before he dropped out. 

Still the liberal base of the party would be thrilled to have her on the ticket to counter the more moderate Biden. 

Senator Amy Klobuchar, who has submitted material to the campaign to be formally vetted, has hosted several events and fundraisers for Biden as she runs a stealth campaign to be his running mate.

But black activists are wary of the Minnesota senator, citing concerns about some of her cases when she was a Minneapolis-area prosecutor. She has been courting that community hard ahead of the vice presidential selection process.  

Biden hasn't tipped his hand other than to say his pick will be a woman. 

'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,' he told CNN on Wednesday.  

The various contenders have their strengths and their weaknesses.

Democratic power players have placed their bets on Klobuchar, ranking her as having strong odds of being tapped by Biden for his number two slot. 

If Biden were to pick Klobuchar as a running mate, he'd have someone ideologically in line with him on the ticket who could bolster turnout in the midwest.  

The downside of a Klobuchar pick would be that she wouldn't excite progressives who supported Sanders and Warren in the 2020 primary. 

She also has some baggage with how she treated staff.

A number of unflattering reports and odd anecdotes came out when she first announced her bid for the White House in February 2019.   

'I'm just not going to engage in hypotheticals. ... Joe Biden was a great vice president. He knows what it takes to be a good vice president. He's going to make that decision,' she said when asked about being picked for vice president.    

Two other senators Biden reportedly is looking at are Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who could help him do better with Nevada's Latino population, which tilted toward Sanders, and Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a military vet. 

Harry Reid, the retired Senate Democratic leader from Nevada, has pushed Cortez Masto as a contender. 

While Sen. Dick Durbin, the other Democratic senator from Illinois, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's No. 2, has pitched Duckworth. 

Earlier this month, Durbin revealed that she was getting an interview with Biden's team. 

'I support Tammy Duckworth. She's spectacular, a great colleague and I hope that she fares well in this interview, which I think is going to take place soon,' Durbin told Newsweek

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer confirmed that she's talked to the Biden campaign about joining the ticket. 

'I've had a conversation with some folks,' she told the 'Today' show's Craig Melvin. 'It was just an opening conversation and it's not something that I would call a professional formalized vetting.' 

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