Biden Says He'll Choose His Running Mate Next Week

Joe Biden said Tuesday he’ll be making a long-anticipated announcement next week: The naming of a running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket he will head.

After detailing in Wilmington, Delaware, his plan to combat racial inequality , the presumptive nominee told reporters he is “going to have a choice the first week in August, and I promise I’ll let you know when I do.” 

Biden said in May he hoped to name his running mate by Aug. 1 . He vowed to select a woman — someone, he said, who is “simpatico with me, both in terms of personality as well as substance” but who has “strengths and capacities I don’t.”

Sens. Kamala Harris of California, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois are among those reportedly on Biden’s shortlist. Others who name have been floated prominently include former national security adviser Susan Rice, and Reps. Val Demings of Florida and Karen Bass of California.

Asked on Tuesday whether he’ll meet potential candidates in person before making a final decision, Biden was noncommittal. 

“We’ll see,” he said, after joking that he would need to “trick” the press so he could meet finalists in person. 

“You got crews outside my house” in Delaware, he quipped to a reporter.

Since the nationwide quarantining due to the coronavirus pandemic began, Biden has conducted his campaign from his home with only occasional forays to nearby venues for speeches where social distancing guidelines are observed. That contrasts with the man Biden aims to unseat, President Donald Trump , who has been inconsistent about such practices.