Joe Biden: I'm 'Confident' Bernie Sanders Would Be 'Supportive' of a Hillary Clinton Win
"There's no fundamental split in the Democratic party."
— -- Vice President Joe Biden has all but written off the Democratic presidential candidacy of Bernie Sanders, but he insists that the decision to drop out of the race is the Vermont senator's to make.
"Bernie Sanders is a good guy," Biden said, speaking with the traveling press pool with him in Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday. "Let Bernie run the race. There's nothing wrong with that."
Biden added, "Here we are in May, as was pointed out, Hillary was still in this in May, in June [in 2008.] I'm confident that Bernie will be supportive if Hillary wins, which the numbers indicate will happen. So I'm not worried. There's no fundamental split in the Democratic Party."
Biden also refused to blame Sanders for an outbreak of violence from his supporters at Saturday's Nevada Democrat state convention.
"That's not Bernie, and what Bernie's going to have to do if that happens again -- he's going to have to be more aggressive in speaking out about it," Biden said.
Biden also weighed in on the prospects of Sen. Sherrod Brown as the next vice president, saying, "I think he'd be a great choice." Still, Biden emphasized his neutrality, adding, "But there's a lot of really qualified folks for No. 2. Hillary has a plethora of really good people to pick from, for real.”
Last week during an interview with "Good Morning America," Biden told co-anchor Robin Roberts he “would have been the best president” if he had mounted a successful campaign in the 2016 election, but that forgoing the race was the right decision for his family. Biden said he had planned to run but changed course only after his eldest son Beau died last May.
“No one should ever seek the presidency unless they're able to devote their whole heart and soul and passion into just doing that,” he said. “And, Beau was my soul. I just wasn't ready to be able to do that. But, so, my one regret is my Beau's not here. I don't have any other regrets.”
