WINNIPEG, Canada — Former President Barack Obama heaped praise on his former running mate and Vice President Joe Biden during an event Monday.
Speaking before a sold-out crowd at Bell MTS Place, his first stop in a two-day tour of Canada, Obama did not directly address the 2020 campaign nor did he even provide a hint about whether he thinks Biden, 76, should run for president.
But Obama did stress that Biden has all the key elements he said was integral to putting together a successful team, which includes integrity, humility, and competency.
“He complemented me,” Obama said of their time in the White House together. “He looked at the world and approached certain problems with a different set of experiences. But he had integrity, and he is a big-hearted person and a loyal person. And we shared a common set of values.”
But perhaps most important, Obama noted, was Biden was not his “clone.”
“It was useful for me to have somebody who wasn’t a clone. But, could say, ‘Mr. President, here’s how it looks like to me,’ or, ‘I’ve known that guy for a long time, here’s how I’d advise your approach,'” Obama said. “He was as good of a partner and vice president as anybody could have hoped for.”
The topic of Biden came up when Michael Burns, the former CEO of Invictus Games, brought up how in the final days of his presidency in January 2017, Obama surprised Biden with a special ceremony on Thursday during which he awarded his second-in-command the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“Yes, we surprised him. That was a good one,” Obama quipped to laughs.
Notably, Burns cited Biden’s long resume in the political arena, including vice president, more than 30 years in Congress, and international work. The crowd was also very receptive to Biden, giving him multiple rounds of applause.
The rest of Obama’s appearance, which lasted a little more than an hour, focused mainly on his time in the White House, relationship with Canadian leaders, and plans for his foundation for fostering the next generation of leaders.
The presidential election was never broached, but Obama’s Canada speaking circuit comes as the 2020 campaign is heating up in its early stages. Already more than a dozen people are vying for the Democratic nomination.
Biden is reportedly leaning towards attempting another tilt at the White House, after two failed bids in 1988 and 2008 and declining one in 2016, but has yet to declare. Some election watchers wonder whether it might be too late for him do so.
