Former Vice President Joe Biden responded positively on Monday to someone asking him whether he would consider tapping a Republican to be his 2020 running mate.
“The answer is I would, but I can’t think of one now,” Biden told the crowd, which laughed in response, according to The New York Times.
“No, I’m serious,” said Biden, reports The Washington Times. “There’s some really decent Republicans that are out there still, but here’s the problem right now with the well-known ones: They’ve got to step up. You know what I mean?”
Biden also emphasized that, should he become the Democrats’ 2020 presidential nominee, he would choose someone who understood his priorities. Although he doesn’t like to talk specifics, Biden has previously floated several names as potential running mates, including Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams (D-GA), and former Assistant Attorney General Sally Yates.
After the campaign stop, Biden gave another speech in which he said that the job of the president should be to bring the country together. “I refuse to accept the notion that we’ll be in perpetual war with Republicans,” said Biden, according to The Washington Post.
Biden has not been shy about his willingness to cultivate relationships with those with whom he politically disagrees, but his answer to the question has drawn the ire of many online progressives.
Tim Wise, a self-proclaimed “antiracist essayist,” called for the GOP to be crushed in response to Biden’s comments: “If Biden believes the answer to right wing fanaticism is kumbaya unity (i.e. a GOP running mate) he is truly demented and insulting the Democratic Party base…the GOP would never do this…outreach & unity is only for Dems I suppose? Screw that. Crush them don’t unify with them.”
If Biden believes the answer to right wing fanaticism is kumbaya unity (i.e. a GOP running mate) he is truly demented and insulting the Democratic Party base…the GOP would never do this…outreach & unity is only for Dems I suppose? Screw that. Crush them don’t unify with them
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) December 30, 2019
Larry Sabato, the director at the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, responded by saying that there are no viable Republicans left for Biden to consider: “Joe Biden says he’d consider having a Republican VP. OK, there are some good choices out there — Nelson Rockefeller, Earl Warren, Bill Scranton. Oh wait, they’re all dead.”
Joe Biden says he’d consider having a Republican VP. OK, there are some good choices out there–Nelson Rockefeller, Earl Warren, Bill Scranton. Oh wait, they’re all dead.
— Larry Sabato (@LarrySabato) December 30, 2019
Amanda Marcotte, a politics writer at Salon, suggested that Biden is not up for the challenge of the presidency because he failed to deflect from the question: “This was a dumb, trick question and his inability to deflect with grace shows he is not up to this.”
This was a dumb, trick question and his inability to deflect with grace shows he is not up to this. https://t.co/nK9qARIPqa
— Amanda Marcotte (@AmandaMarcotte) December 31, 2019
Many political pundits, however, were quick to point out the ridiculous nature of the online outrage.
Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro weighed in, saying: “Twitter Democrats are ripping apart Biden for the great sin of suggesting he would consider a Republican VP if he could think of any worth considering. This is the essence of Twitter insularity.”
Twitter Democrats are ripping Biden apart for the great sin of suggesting he would consider a Republican VP if he could think of any worth considering. This is the essence of Twitter insularity.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) December 30, 2019
Ezra Klein, the editor-at-large of Vox, also responded to the outrage, saying: “The degree to which this website takes everything Biden says literally, as opposed to politically, is odd. He’s not going to choose a Republican VP. He thinks it’s good politics to signal that he’ll work with Republicans if they’ll meet him halfway. He’s probably right.”
The degree to which this web site takes everything Biden says literally, as opposed to politically, is odd.
He’s not going to choose a Republican VP. He thinks it’s good politics to signal that he’ll work with Republicans if they’ll meet him halfway. He’s probably right.
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) December 30, 2019