Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is expected to announce his running mate this week, a source familiar with the news told Reuters.
Joe Biden and his potential vice president will formally agree to the party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention, postponed for Aug. 17-20, and he is expected to announce his running ,mate before it starts.
The New York Times said earlier on Monday that Biden’s campaign plans to report a decision as soon as Tuesday, but more especially on Wednesday, citing people briefed on the selection process.
The newspaper said the committee that screened the candidates had “effectively disbanded” after finishing its work. It noted that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has missed previous deadlines to announce his choice, and that the timeline could “slip again.”
A Biden campaign spokesman refused to comment.
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Biden, the former vice president under Barack Obama, has dedicated to choosing a woman as his running mate and has come under increasing pressure from some Democratic leaders and activists expecting her to be Black.
They quarreled Biden otherwise risks reducing eagerness among Black voters who are so decisive to the Democratic base and his hopes of unseating Republican President Donald Trump in November’s election, particularly as the country has been filled with protests against racial injustice.
Aimee Allison, founder of She the People, a group that promotes women of color in politics, told Reuters she thought it would be politically “reckless” if Joe Biden did not pick a woman of color.
“It’s the most important decision the Biden camp can make to set the tone for the last 80 or so days,” she said. “Picking a Black woman for the ticket is affirmation that we are included in the vision of governance.”
U.S. Senator Kamala Harris of California and former national security adviser Susan Rice, both Black, are part of the top competitors.
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According to Democratic officials and Biden allies, U.S. Representative Karen Bass, a Black lawmaker from California, and a half dozen other women were under serious thoughts. They include senators Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Duckworth, U.S. Representative Val Demings, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s photo, the most weighty of his political career, has attracted an unusual amount of attention given his age. If he beats Trump, he would be 78 on inauguration day next January, the oldest U.S. president in history, and it is possible he may only look one four-year term.
