Vice President Joe Biden said he “could do a good job” running for president in 2016, and that “there’s a chance” he would challenge former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“To be blunt with you, I think I could do a good job. But that’s not my focus now,” Biden told the “TODAY” show’s Matt Lauer on Wednesday morning. “My focus now is keeping this recovery moving. I have plenty of time to make that decision between now and the summer, and I will make that decision in that time frame.”
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The 2016 presidential election campaign officially kicked off last month when former Florida Republican Gov. Jeb Bush declared his intent to run. However, several GOP hopefuls and even Clinton, the likely Democratic front-runner, continue to mull decisions on whether or not to make a bid for the nation’s highest office. Through laughter, Biden on Wednesday told ABC News: “Yes, there’s a chance,” he could challenge Clinton. Biden said that he doesn’t have to make a decision about running for president until this summer.
The vice president weighed in on morning news shows hours after President Barack Obama’s sixth State of the Union address, his first in front of a Congress controlled completely by Republicans. Biden told Lauer that he didn’t think anything unusual happened when Republicans applauded after Obama said: “I have no more campaigns to run.”
“I’ve sat through a lot of State of the Unions with eight different presidents and similar things have occurred. I just think it’s the nature of a body of 535 people. There’s always something like that that comes up. I don’t think it represented any institutional disrespect for the president,” Biden said.
He added that he is optimistic about Congress passing measures.
Biden also discussed the multiple gunshots that were fired outside of his home in Delaware on Saturday night. The vice president and his wife, Jill, weren’t home when a car drove by the residence and apparently fired four gunshots into the air.
“I feel completely safe being there,” he said, adding that there were reports of similar gunshots heard about an hour later approximately a mile and a half down the road. “I’m not worried about it, and I think the security in my home is fine.”
Biden also chimed in on the latest accusations against the New England Patriots for allegedly deflating footballs during Sunday’s championship game. The Patriots beat the Indianapolis Colts and are headed to the Super Bowl next month.
“Having been a receiver, I like a softer ball,” the notoriously gaffe-prone Biden told CBS News on Wednesday. “That’s all I can tell you.”
Michele Richinick