Stacey Abrams claims she hasn’t been ‘pitching’ herself to be Biden running mate

The former Georgia state representative and failed 2018 gubernatorial candidate is often mentioned as a potential running mate for Biden, who filled the role of vice president for eight years under former President Barack Obama and has pledged to pick a woman as his running mate.

Abrams’s statement, however, contradicts reports that she is actively campaigning for the job.

Politico, citing unnamed labor leaders, reported last week that Abrams has privately asked powerful Democrats to tell the Biden campaign officials that she should be his pick.

She has kept a heavy media interview schedule since Biden became the presumptive nominee, never shying away from questions about being his potential pick in a break from contenders traditionally being coy about their vice presidential ambitions.

In a recent Atlantic profile, Abrams tried to shut down those who question her qualifications, particularly in foreign policy, by saying she “spent the last 20 years thinking about international issues independently and been to 16 countries doing policy work … as an inquisitive young person and then as a legislator.”

Abrams indicated Wednesday that her eagerness to communicate is a result of wanting to be a good role model for young women of color.

“My responsibility is not to question what journalists think is a valid question but to answer for the audience that they’re speaking to. And as a woman, as a person of color, and as a person of color, it is my responsibility to answer honestly and forthrightly,” Abrams said. “And if the question is about whether I am competent and qualified for the job, my answer must be unequivocal, because I’m not simply speaking for myself. I’m also speaking to that young woman of color who is thinking about what is in her future.”