WASHINGTON, August 25, 2015– On Monday, Vice President Biden enjoyed lunch at the White House with President Obama. The two apparently discussed a Biden run for the White House. A short while after their lunch ended, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest announced that President Obama has given Biden the green light and his blessing to run for President.
JONATHAN KARL, ABC NEWS: So you have the development over the weekend that the vice president came back and met with Elizabeth Warren. How does the president deal with this if Biden actually decides to run? You have his current vice president versus the former Secretary of State.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE: Well, that’s not an insignificant if in that question. And I think that’s what everybody is pretty interested in finding out is what decision the vice president is going to make. The president has indicated that his view that the decision that he made, I guess 7 years ago now, to add Joe Biden to the ticket as his running mate was the smartest decision that he has ever made in politics. And I think that should give you some sense into the president’s view into Vice President’s aptitude for the top job.
KARL: So, I’d assume that means the president would support Vice President Biden if were to run? And this is obviously, you know, a better decision than the secretary of state he choose. So, uh — well you said it was the best decision he ever made.
EARNEST: Yeah, it was…
EARNEST: The president has spoke at quite some length about the appreciation and respect and admiration he has for the service of Secretary Clinton, particularly in her four years as Secretary of State.
KARL: Just not his best decision.
EARNEST: Well, he, again, I think all of you and your coverage of some of the president’s comments about Secretary Clinton have noted how warm those comments were. I’ll just say that the vice president is somebody who has already run for president twice. He’s been on a national ticket through two election cycles now, both in 2008 and the reelection of 2012. So, I think you could probably make the case that there is no one in American politics today who has a better understanding of exactly what is required to mount a successful national presidential campaign. That means he’s going to collect all the information that he needs to make a decision.
As Hillary Clinton continues to decline in the polls, even losing to billionaire reality TV star Donald Trump in a key swing state, Democrats seem to be scrambling to find a palatable alternative to a Clinton nomination.
Only three weeks ago, Earnest refused to answer when asked by reporters on whether or not President Obama would support Vice President Biden if he ran for the presidency. Earnest did expound on Obama’s admiration for Biden, and added that Biden would make a decision by the end of the Summer.
Biden is said to be reaching out to top Democrat donors across the country.
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