Biden, the unofficial Democratic nominee for president, has pledged to pick a woman to fill the vice president slot on his presidential ticket. On Wednesday morning, Conway told Fox News the former vice president sounded like a “co-ed at the end of a frat party,” saying “I need a woman.”
Biden hasn’t publicly released his shortlist for vice president but he told James Corden during an interview in April that it would be someone who inspires confidence in the American people. If in the event he had to walk away from his position, he wants the public to be able to look at his vice president and say, “She is capable of being president of the United States tomorrow.”
He also said recently on Snapchat that he was looking for a vice president who has “strengths that I don’t have as much,” and that he wasn’t afraid to select someone who has more knowledge in a subject area.
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, two former presidential contenders, said they’d accept the job if it was offered to them. Former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has also made it clear her answer would be “yes,” if asked, when the two appeared on MSNBC’s The Last Word, on Thursday.
“She knows what she’s doing and she is an incredibly capable person,” Biden said of Abrams during the interview.
Back in April, Biden said a group tasked with vetting potential candidates was expected to be formed by May 1, so the vetting process is likely already underway. He speculated the nominee wouldn’t be announced until July, but there have been rumors that former National Security Adviser Susan Rice could be considered.
Rice told MSNBC in an interview she was “humbled and honored” to be in the group of women who were rumored to be considered. If there was a role he felt she could serve in, she wouldn’t turn it down.
Rice, who served under President Barack Obama, is now the subject of intense scrutiny from Republicans. On January 20, 2017, the day of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Rice sent herself a now fully-declassified email. The email describes a conversation Obama had with FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates after a briefing on Russian hacking during the 2016 election, while she and Biden were present.
Obama, according to the email, told those present that “every aspect of this issue” should be handled “by the book,” but wanted to be sure that people are mindful of any reason they could not fully share information as it relates to Russia with the incoming Trump team. Comey reportedly expressed concerns about National Security Advisor Michael Flynn speaking with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak.
Some argue the email backs up the claim that Flynn was improperly targeted and on Friday, Conway told Fox News that Rice has proven that she “can’t be trusted.”
Rice responded to the declassification of her email in a statement, saying that she briefed Flynn for over 12 hours on four separate occasions and “did not alter the way she briefed Michael Flynn on Russia as a result of Director Comey’s response.”