Joe Biden’s strategist says the former vice president is 95 percent likely to run for president in 2020.
Officials familiar with the discussions told the New York Times that Biden’s strategist, Steve Ricchetti, thinks Biden is all but in and will announce soon.
There are already more than a dozen Democrats running in the primary competition, and Biden is already leading them in most of the polls.
“I absolutely believe he’s going to run,” Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., said after speaking to Biden on the phone this week. “There may still be some doubt in his mind but there’s no doubt in my mind.”
Richmond said he believes if Biden were to run, he would be the Democratic Party’s “best candidate to beat Trump.”
[Related: Biden the Democrats’ sole hope to beat Trump in 2020, says Iowa poll]
Biden has not yet made an official announcement on if he were to run or not, but the Times noted he has been privately speaking with influential Democratic donors to gauge their level of support.
If he were to run, Biden would be facing off with 14 candidates who have already launched, including Sens. Kamala Harris, Calif., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Cory Booker, N.J., Kirsten Gillibrand, N.Y., Amy Klobuchar, Minn., and Elizabeth Warren, Mass.
