Washington D.C — Although he’s not officially a candidate, Vice President Joe Biden gave a campaign-style speech to an encouraging crowd at the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner, but remained mum on his intentions — at least for now.
The vice president, who has been publicly grappling with a possible 2016 run since early this summer, walked onstage Saturday night to a standing ovation and thunderous applause from the largest LGBT advocacy group in the nation. Early into his remarks, Biden was met by chants of, “You should run!” Biden paused his speech to chuckle at this comment before responding, “No, I didn’t say that…”
Biden’s keynote speech at the dinner mentioned everything democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton said at her morning address to the organization, but added more to the conversation. The vice president has been a vocal advocate for LGBT rights since 2011 and many view him as a stronger advocate than Clinton.
While the morning crowd was extremely supportive of Clinton during her speech, the thousands at the LGBT organization’s dinner were even more fired up for the vice president, jumping to their feet and encouraging him to continue even when his speech ended.
Biden, who served alongside President Obama for two White House terms, spoke of how he saw the United States as a leader on the world stage for LGBT equality. His main push was to ensure that LGBT people no longer face discrimination.
While the Equality Act, which is currently under review, would ensure equality in the workplace, Biden expressed skepticism that this Congress would pass it. But Biden remained hopeful that if activists worked on the issue, states would take up the fight.
“We’ve become more of what America was meant to be,” Biden told the room as part of his push for greater equality nationwide. “The very fact that we’ve come to recognize that love is not a political matter, it is a human right, is because of you.”
Much of the night was spent warning the overwhelmingly liberal-leaning crowd about the perils of electing a Republican in 2016. Biden joined that chorus, warning that the next president will have the ability to pick three Supreme Court justices, as well as undo some of the past administration’s legislation.
“There are still those people in the national political arena who want to undo what’s already been done,” Biden told the enthusiastic crowd.
He added, “Look, there are some homophobes still left, most of them are running for president I think.”
His speech wandered off topic as the vice president called for increased gun control in the wake of the mass shooting at an Oregon community college on Thursday that killed nine people. Biden reminded the crowd that his 1994 crime bill had gun control measures, but George Bush eventually did away with them.
If the vice president wants to get on the primary ballot in every state, he must announce his intention to run by Nov. 6. While the the first Democratic primary debate is Oct. 13, and he could participate in it even if he announces day of, sources close to the VP say that he will not participate in the debate regardless.
