Former Vice President Joe Biden says he would consider Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Ca.) for vice president or any other role she wanted if he were to win the Democratic primary.
The comment was a bit of a bombshell, given that Harris and Biden had some contentious exchanges through the Democratic primary. Harris suspended her campaign for president last month and Biden is currently leading in national polls of Democratic voters.
Biden’s comments came during an exchange with a reporter from The Sacramento Bee, who asked the former Vice President, “One thing that people miss in California is Kamala Harris… What positions would you consider her for under your presidency?”
“Anything she’d be interested in,” Biden responded.
The reporter asked, “Including vice president?”
“She’s qualified to be president, and I’d consider her for anything that she would be interested in,” Biden said.
You can see Biden make the comments at the 44-second mark in the video below:
Biden added that he wished there were more people on stage when asked about the lack of diversity at the most recent Democratic debate.
On the campaign trail, Biden and Harris seemed a lot less friendly. Harris confronted Biden for working with segregationists in the Senate at one debate. During another, Biden claimed to have the support of the only black woman elected to the Senate, only for Harris — a black woman in the Senate — to interject and say “that’s not true.” Biden quickly corrected himself to say he meant the “first” black woman in the Senate, Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (D-Il,), not the only black woman.
But it wasn’t the first signal of praise from Biden to Harris. Last month, when she announced she was suspending her campaign, Biden only found out after a reporter asked him for his thoughts. He looked shocked before he walked over to a press scrum and responded.
“My reaction is she is a first-rate intellect, a first-rate candidate,” Biden said. “I have mixed emotions about it because she is really a solid, solid person and she is loaded with talent.”
Now, it appears he may be considering her to join his team down the road.
