Jeff Fusco/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — The White House isn’t ready to pick sides in a hypothetical primary battle between Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. But Press Secretary Josh Earnest made clear Monday that the president believes Biden is up for the job should he decide to run.
“I won’t get into rating the qualifications of any candidates or possible candidates,” Earnest told ABC News, “but I think the president has indicated that one of the reasons he chose Joe Biden to be his running-mate and to be the vice president of the United States is that he thinks he would be a good president, there’s no doubt about that.”
“But I would also point out that the president has spoken warmly of others who’ve served in his administration, including Secretary Clinton,” Earnest continued.
Earnest listed off Biden’s experience as a senator and chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in addition to his time as vice president as the basis for his strong qualifications as the second in succession and a possible presidential candidate.
“This is somebody that had a long career as a fighter for the middle class, he is someone that as the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee developed important relationships with world leaders and has used those relationships to advance the interests of the United States, and so whether it is working with leaders in Iraq or leaders of Ukraine or other countries in Latin America, the vice president has been a very effective advocate for U.S. interests around the world and that was certainly true when he was in the Senate and that has certainly been true as vice president. That gives him a unique set of skills and experience and it’s not surprising to me that there are people who are talking about this possibility.”
Earnest batted off the suggestion that Vice President Biden only has an opening to run because of the controversy over Clinton’s emails as secretary of state.
“I disagree with that principally because there are a lot of people speculating about the possibility of a Biden presidency long before anybody knew what Hillary Clinton’s email address was,” Earnest said
Asked if the president has spoken to the vice president about his possible presidential ambitions, Earnest would not say.
“What I would anticipate is that the president will keep his private discussions with the Vice President of the United States private, and so I don’t have a lot of insight to share with you about either about the vice president’s thinking or his discussions with the president on this issue,” he said.
With Biden’s intentions still undeclared, Earnest reiterated several times in the briefing that the vice president should be allowed to make the decision on his own timeframe.
“Somebody with the extensive experience of the vice president and someone who has made such a significant contribution to the safety and prosperity of his country should be afforded the opportunity to make that decision on the timeframe that he chooses and it sounds like that’s exactly what he’s doing,” Earnest said.
He also offered praise for the Clinton campaign for taking what he called a “wise approach” of staying focused on their own campaign in light of the news that Biden may also enter the race.
“Having worked on one successful campaign for the presidency one of the recipes for success is focusing on the race at hand and on the things that you can actually control and it sounds like that’s the approach the Clinton campaign is taking … and I think it’s wise approach,” he said.
Copyright © 2015, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
