Politics

Joe Biden pledges to pick a woman to be his running mate

Key Points
  • Former Vice President Joe Biden committed to picking a woman as his running mate. 
  • "I commit that I will in fact pick a woman to be vice president," Biden said during the Democratic debate Sunday. 
  • Sen. Bernie Sanders was less firm on picking a female running mate. "In all likelihood, I will," he said.
Democratic presidential hopeful former US vice president Joe Biden participates in the 11th Democratic Party 2020 presidential debate in a CNN Washington Bureau studio in Washington, DC on March 15, 2020.
Mandel Ngan | Getty Images

Former Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday committed to picking a woman as his vice presidential running mate. 

"I commit that I will in fact pick a woman to be vice president," Biden said during the Democratic debate. 

When moderators asked whether he was guaranteeing that he will choose a woman to be his vice president, Biden said "yes."

Sen. Bernie Sanders was less firm on picking a female running mate. When he was asked whether he would name a woman to join him on the ticket, Sanders said: "In all likelihood, I will." 

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Though allies of Biden have told CNBC that Biden isn't focused yet on who he will pick to be his running mate, political analysts have named potential choices such as Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former Georgia state house lawmaker Stacey Abrams and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Warren, Harris and Klobuchar were previously rivals of Biden and Sanders' in the primary race. They both endorsed Biden after picking up key primary victories and overtaking Sanders in the delegate count. Warren has yet to make an endorsement.

Even before Harris' endorsement, Biden was aligning with many of her former donors and strategists. Weeks after the California lawmaker dropped out of the Democratic primary, Wall Street executives that were once helping her with fundraising, moved into Biden's camp. 

Andrew Yang, a progressive entrepreneur, has been in touch with Biden since he exited the primary and has endorsed him as well. When he was a candidate in the Democratic primary, people close to the former vice president spoke to Yang about potentially being part of a potential Biden administration. 

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