With the odds of securing a Democratic nomination becoming more and more in favor of former vice president Joe Biden, the recent debate between him and Senator Bernie Sanders may have given him even more of a chance. During the debate, the former vice president promised that should he become the Democratic nominee, he would pick a woman to be his vice president.
During the Democratic primary debate, Biden pledged that should he be elected President, he would pick a woman as his running mate, as well as having a diverse set of Cabinet members. “If I’m elected president, my Cabinet, my administration, will look like the country. And I commit that I will, in fact, pick a woman to be vice president,” said Biden, who added that there are many female lawmakers who were qualified to be in the position, even as president.
This is not the first time Biden has mentioned picking a woman as a running mate as he previously revealed that he already has a list of women he has in mind for the job. Biden has also previously revealed that he may even pick a Republican as a running mate.
The former vice president has already gained a wide lead against Sanders due to his surge in victories from primaries from the past several weeks. However, Sanders remains to be catching up in votes and delegates, and the results from this week’s set of primaries may determine if Biden would wrap up the nominations or if Sanders would be able to get a chance to catch up and make the race a head-to-head battle.
Aside from pledging a diverse set of Cabinet members in his potential administration, Biden has also reiterated that he would select a black woman to serve in the Supreme Court. This would be the first time in history that an African-American woman would be appointed or even nominated in general for Supreme Court Justice. Out of 114 Supreme Court Justices, only three were people of color; Thurgood Marshall, Clarence Thomas, and Sonia Sotomayor.
People did not pay much attention to this statement, most likely because both Biden and Sanders would already be known to seek diversity in their staff, which was proven true when Biden made his commitment to have a diverse Cabinet.