Biden Says He’s Consulted Sanders On Beginning Vice Presidential Vetting Process

Former Vice President Joe Biden said he’s told Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) that he’s begun his search for vice president. 

“I am in the process and I’ve actually had this discussion with Bernie because he’s a friend, he’s a friend,” Biden said on Friday.

Biden is the presumptive Democratic nominee after Sanders dropped out of the race last week.

“You have to start now deciding who you’re going to have background checks done on as vice presidential candidates and it takes time,” he added.

Biden’s campaign said it plans to announce a search committee “sometime in the middle of the month” despite the Democratic National Convention being postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. He said that he believes “it’s critically important that the vice president be a woman, with the experience and background to do the job.”

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The former vice president also spoke about how he would fill his cabinet, adding that he’d like to add people that reflect the country’s diversity. “There’s an enormous number of really qualified people, and one of the ways to deal with age is to build a bench … to build a bench of younger, really qualified people,” Biden said.