Well, the time has come, folks. The veepstakes for the 2020 election will be announced next week after former Vice President Joe Biden held a press conference and actually answered softball questions from the media. the former VP said that the first week in August will be when he unveils his pick (via Axios):
Joe Biden just said he'll have a VP pick in the first week of August.
— Michael Del Moro (@MikeDelMoro) July 28, 2020
Former Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he'll announce his running mate "the first week in August."
[…]
Where it stands: Biden has pledged to name a woman as his running mate, and last week told MSNBC that among the finalists are "four black women."
His team has been vetting Sen. Kamala Harris, former national security adviser Susan Rice, and Reps. Val Demings and Karen Bass as potential running mates.
He told MSNBC last week that he would meet the finalists in person, promising “personal discussions with each of the candidates who are left and make a decision.”
Hard-hitting questions for Joe Bide today included:
— Andrew Clark (@AndrewHClark) July 28, 2020
??Any update on your VP pick?
??What states opened up too fast?
??Why are you visiting Delaware?
??Any response to Trump's ads?
??Why should people vote for you?
??What are your thoughts on sports?
Good lord.
Joe Biden has gone 28 days without holding a press conference.
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 28, 2020
He's finally taking questions.
"I'm happy to take your questions. Let me get my list here."
Joe Biden sounds a little rusty in understanding how press conferences work. pic.twitter.com/1yH8qgYPih
Joe Biden's alternate reality: "I know a fair amount about American foreign policy."
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 28, 2020
Reality Check from Robert Gates, Obama/Biden's former defense secretary: Biden has "been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades." pic.twitter.com/1Houcd2Md9
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Still, Biden has mostly been hidden in this election cycle. He’s been in the bunker. And yes, to no one’s surprise, some of these questions were a joke regarding a presidential candidate. The press has learned from its 2016 mistakes. They’re not going to ask this man, whose mind appears to be going, any hard questions. They cannot create that contrast of a vibrant Trump and a mentally lost Biden. No way. They will treat him with kid gloves. It’s why Biden is able to spew nonsense like Trump overreaching with his presidential authority. As Wall Street Journal columnist Kim Strassel pointed out, Obama initiated DAPA, DACA, and weaponized the Environmental Protection Agency to declare was on coal mining communities.
LOL. Joe Biden accuses Trump of overusing presidential authority? From the team that went around Congress to stand up an EPA climate program? That did DACA? DAPA? Minimum wage for federal workers? Paris Accord? More than 500 "major" rules that restructured industry everywhere?
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) July 28, 2020
So, brace yourselves, folks—the Biden’s VP is coming. Oh, and he also unveiled his multi-billion-dollar plan to eradicate racism (via NPR):
Biden's proposal seeks to address the country's racial wealth, opportunity and jobs gaps through what the campaign says would be a "historic effort to empower small business creation and expansion in economically disadvantaged areas — and particularly for Black, Latino, [Asian American and Pacific Islander] and Native American-owned businesses."
The 26-page plan centers around the bolstering of small business opportunities for minority communities, reforming "opportunity zones," investing in affordable housing and homeownership, and expanding access to resources for entrepreneurs of color.
Many of the policy proposals detailed Tuesday have been released earlier by the campaign and reflect the priorities of the other three pillars of his plan to revitalize the economy, including a major expansion of access to child care, a $2 trillion climate agenda and a boost to manufacturing through a "Buy American" proposal.
The racial equity plan would devote $30 billion — 10% of the $300 billion Biden aims to invest in research and development to stimulate the economy — to a small business opportunity fund. The campaign suggests the investment would yield $150 billion in venture capital and low-interest business loans
But the real news is that Biden emerged from his darkened lair to announce his VP timeline. The rest was fluff questions and garbled responses. It's now 'wait and see' time.
***
UPDATE: Is it Harris? Politico seemed to have thought so:
Huh?
— Mark Bednar (@MarkBednar) July 28, 2020
Politico labeled Sen. Kamala Harris as Biden's running mate... that he chose on August 1 (4 days from now).https://t.co/M3dhmIwZ7o pic.twitter.com/99GDHzWPnL
Here's the archived link:https://t.co/QBNWVaXrYo pic.twitter.com/Qi0O5kXCgm
— Tomer Elkayam (@TomerElk) July 28, 2020
Politico?
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 28, 2020
"Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris to become his running mate for the 2020 election on Aug. 1, two weeks before the Democratic National Convention, after keeping his choice close to the chest for months."https://t.co/5NCJoaLSNM pic.twitter.com/HD3Fq9aM1S
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