Stacey Abrams said she hasn’t been pitching herself to be the vice presidential nominee, despite repeatedly touting her bona fides to media outlets and reports that she has pressured Joe Biden’s inner circle to choose her.
Abrams walked back the notion that she has been “pitching” herself to be Biden’s vice presidential running-mate in an interview with CNN on Wednesday. The former Georgia state representative and failed gubernatorial candidate described the idea as a “mischaracterization.”
“First of all, the decision of who his vice president will be is solely the decision of Vice President Biden. He has done the job and he knows what he’s looking for,” Abrams said on CNN’s “Amanpour.”
She continued: “I want to push back. I haven’t been pitching myself, which has been a mischaracterization because I answer questions honestly. I’ve been getting this question for 14 months. Since March of 2019, I’ve repeatedly received the question and I’m honored people would put me in the category to think that was a question to ask.”
Democratic politician Stacey Abrams speaks to the media before the Democratic Presidential Debate at Tyler Perry Studios November 20, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Despite her claims on Wednesday, Abrams has led one of the most aggressive public campaigns to be the number two for Biden, who stands as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
Biden has pledged to choose a woman as his running-mate, prompting speculation about a number of high-profile Democratic women such as Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and others. (RELATED: Investigation Into Stacey Abrams’s 2018 Campaign ‘Ongoing,’ Ethics Commission Says)
However, Abrams — whose highest elected office was a state representative seat in Georgia — has publicly touted herself as a credible candidate for Biden’s ticket. The romance novelist has said she would be an “excellent running-mate” for Biden, talked about her “25 years in independent study of foreign policy” and even expressed concern about Biden not choosing a “woman of color.”
Beyond public adulation about her background, she has been reportedly pressing Biden to choose her behind closed doors. Abrams has privately called Democratic power brokers and requested that they tell Biden campaign staffers to choose her as his running-mate, according to multiple labor leaders who spoke with Politico.
The public campaign is an unprecedented strategy. Typically, those wishing to be tapped as a vice presidential running-mate play coy when asked the question by reporters and lobby for the position in a more low-key fashion.
It appears Abrams’s strategy has annoyed some on the Democratic side of the aisle.
Democratic Missouri Rep. Lacy Clay, during a podcast interview in April, criticized her for publicly lobbying to become Biden’s ruling-mate, and knocked her for losing her 2018 gubernatorial bid.
“You know, at the race track, you cannot show up at the winner’s window with loser’s tickets. You haven’t won anything. You can’t show up at the winner’s window with loser’s tickets and demand anything,” Clay said.
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