MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell asked former Vice President Joe Biden if he had “an announcement to make” Thursday regarding former Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, but Biden did not take the bait.
Biden and Abrams appeared together on MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” to speak about the novel coronavirus and the 2020 presidential election. Thursday marked the first time Biden and Abrams were together on television, O’Donnell noted.
The appearance caused some to wonder if Biden, who has promised to pick a female running mate, would announce Abrams as his choice. O’Donnell appeared to wonder this also, noting that Biden himself had asked for her to appear on the show with him.
“I want to begin this with a question to Joe Biden, because Stacey Abrams is here because Joe Biden invited Stacey Abrams to be here. And so, Mr. Vice President, do you have an announcement to make?” O’Donnell asked. “Is this an audition? Is there – what is the reason that you decided, ‘it’s time for me to get on TV with Stacey Abrams?'”
Biden praised Abrams in his response, but did not announce her as his running mate. (RELATED: Stacey Abrams Says She Would Be ‘An Excellent Running Mate’ For Joe Biden)
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“Well, because Stacey Abrams has done more to deal with the fair vote and making sure there is a fair vote than anybody and she has a great, great capacity to explain things and the layout, exactly why it’s gonna be so critically important in this election,” Biden explained. “This president’s already said when they put in the stimulus package the Congress first passed money to provide for mail-in ballots, he already said I’m not for that if we do that, no Republican will ever win or something to that effect.”
“He’s made it clear, this is a guy who said he wants to defund the post office from being able to deliver ballots, I mean. So Stacey knows what she’s doing and she’s an incredibly capable person.”
Many other women – including ones who bowed out of the Democratic presidential race – have endorsed Biden.
Abrams has been pitching herself to be Biden’s vice president. She walked back this notion during an interview with CNN May 6, despite touting her credentials to numerous media outlets.