NEW YORK (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden described himself Thursday as overwhelmed by his son’s death and unconvinced he could commit fully to being president, in an emotional interview that cast a deep pall over his deliberations about the 2016 presidential race.
Asked about his 2016 decision on “The Late Show,” Biden said he’d be lying if he said he knew he was prepared to run following Beau Biden’s death in May to brain cancer. With a level of candor seen rarely in politics, he recalled a breakdown of his emotions during a recent visit to a Colorado military base when a well-wisher yelled out the name of his son and referenced his decorated military service in Iraq.
“All of a sudden, I lost it,” Biden said. “How could you — that’s not — I shouldn’t be saying this: You can’t do that.”
Biden’s much-anticipated appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” was expected to take on a light and comedic tone, but instead veered almost immediately into raw and personal territory. He said White House hopefuls must be able to promise voters they can commit their whole heart, soul, energy and passion, and said, “I’d be lying if I said that I knew I was there.”
“Nobody has a right, in my view, to seek that office unless they’re willing to give it 110 percent of who they are. And I am, as I said, I’m optimistic, I’m positive about where we’re going,” Biden told Colbert. “But I find myself — you understand it — sometimes it just overwhelms you.”
Biden had previously expressed doubts about whether he and his family have the emotional energy to run. Still, his blunt description of his own emotional frailty on Thursday marked the strongest indication yet that he may be leaning against running for the Democratic nomination.
The vice president once set an end-of-summer deadline to decide whether to run, but that outlook was reshuffled after his son, the former Delaware attorney general, died. In early August, Biden let it be known that he was actively considering a run.
More recently, Biden’s aides have said any announcement would likely slip into late September or early October, or possibly even later. The aides weren’t authorized to discuss the timeline publicly and requested anonymity.
The intense interest and speculation stirred up by the prospect of a Biden campaign has essentially frozen the Democratic primary campaign, as Hillary Rodham Clinton and the other candidates wait to see whether they’ll face another formidable contender. Recent national polls have suggested Biden could be competitive against the Republican candidates, and that he’s more popular within his own party than Clinton in key primary states.
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Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP
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