Former vice president Joe Biden said in an interview broadcast Sunday that he has not ruled out a presidential run in 2020 and that he expects to make a decision by the end of the year.
“I’m really hoping that some other folks step up,” Biden said. “I think we have some really good people. … I got to walk away knowing that it is — there’s somebody who can do it and can win because we’ve got to win. We’ve got to win in 2020.”
Biden said he is still struggling to recover from the 2015 death of his son Beau at 46 from brain cancer. In a December ABC interview, Biden said it could be a year before he might be ready to make a decision.
“It takes time to come back,” he said. “Look, no man has a right to go say, ‘Help me become president,’ unless I can look at you and say, ‘You’ve got my whole heart, my whole soul, all of my passion, all my attention.’ And I know I got to make that decision by, you know, by the end of this year.”
Sharpton pressed Biden: “You’re not telling me no.”
“No, no, I’m not,” he replied. “I’ve been honest about this. If the Lord Almighty, Al, came down and said, ‘The nomination is yours now; you have to accept it now,’ I would not.”
“But,” Sharpton interjected, “you say, ‘Lord, check with me before the year’s up.’ ”
“Exactly right,” Biden said.