After a weekend packed with speculation that Vice President Joe Biden would challenge Hillary Clinton and other Democratic candidates for the party’s presidential nomination, White House press secretary Josh Earnest avoided talking in details about the primary contest.
But, he did say that President Barack Obama believe his vice president would “no doubt” be a good president.
AP Photo.
A reporter asked, “Does the president believe the vice president would be a good president? Does the president believe that Hillary Clinton would be an equally good president?”
Earnest tried to be cautions, as he has done on most questions about the Democratic primary.
“I won’t get into rating the qualifications of any candidate or possible candidates, but I think the president has indicated one of the reasons that he chose Joe Biden as his running mate and to be the vice president of the United States is that he thinks he would be a good president,” Earnest said. “There is no doubt about that.”
As for Hillary Clinton, who served as Obama’s first secretary of state, Earnest also said the president had a high opinion of her.
“I would also add the president has spoken warmly of others who have served in his administration, including Secretary Clinton,” Earnest said. “Ultimately it will be the responsibility of Democratic voters across the country to decide who they believe will be the best Democratic nominee and the president will have the opportunity to vote in the Illinois primary.”
Separately, another reporter asked if the flurry of talk about Biden entering the Democratic presidential primary came out of concerns about Clinton’s private email scandal.
“There were people speculating about a Joe Biden presidency long before anyone knew what Secretary Clinton’s email address was,” Earnest said.
