Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) signaled on Tuesday that if she wins her party’s nomination to the presidency, then she may likely chose a woman to be her running mate.
“My question is: what about a running mate?” A supporter asked during a campaign event in Altoona, Iowa. “Are you thinking of a woman?”
“So, let me just say two things,” Warren replied. “First, it would be entirely presumptuous of me to talk about running mates. I’m out here talking about why I’m running for president and asking for all of you to get out and caucus for me. That’s how I’m going to end this, I’m going to ask you to get out and caucus for me.”
Elizabeth Warren on her potential pick for vice president: "I gotta say — why wouldn't I have a woman for a running mate?" https://t.co/fprbtlkGba pic.twitter.com/4cTTEn62lo
— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 26, 2019
“But I have got to say, why wouldn’t I have a woman for a running mate?” she continued, adding that she is “not cutting anybody off from this.” Warren also told the woman who asked the question that she is “thinking the right way.”
Warren’s remarks, however, come nearly a month after reports surfaced that she had been consulting with failed Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum and further considering for him to join her on the top of the ticket. Gillum, who was hired as a CNN contributor following his unsuccessful bid, could benefit the Massachusetts lawmaker with black voters, a demographic that she has struggled to gain traction with.
Prior to his ultimate defeat, Gillum, the former mayor of Tallahassee, Florida, faced backlash on a variety of fronts, including his anti-police stances and ties to anti-Israel and anti-Zionist organizations.
Gillum’s gubernatorial campaign had been fraught with scandals from the onset. Tallahassee City Hall has been under FBI investigation since as early as 2015 as part of an ongoing corruption probe. Records were released in 2018 showing that an undercover FBI agent gave him a gift that he had previously claimed was given to him by his brother. And in January 2019, the Florida Ethics Commission found probable cause Friday that Gillum violated state ethics laws.
While the Daily Beast described their talks as ones that “resemble the kind of courtship that happens when a leading presidential candidate is exploring potential vice presidential contenders,” Warren’s campaign called the reports “baseless and not at all true.”
Another failed gubernatorial candidate, former Georgia state lawmaker Stacey Abrams, has also been floated by many in her party as a potential vice presidential pick. Abrams has been voicing her support for the position, contending that she is now open to joining the top of the ticket with any of the Democratic presidential contenders, despite previously proclaiming that she doesn’t “run for second place.”
Although Warren has remained silent on a Warren-Abrams ticket, former Vice President Joe Biden stated earlier in the week that “the woman who should have been the governor of Georgia” was on his short list of VP picks, referring to Abrams. Abrams handily lost her 2018 election by more than 50,000 votes, yet has promoted the theory that her Republican challenger engaged in racist voter suppression tactics. While there has been no evidence to corroborate her claims, Democrats have continued to amplify the claims.