Former Vice President Dick Cheney voiced his support for a Joe Biden 2016 White House run.
“I’d love to see Joe get in the race,” Cheney said of his successor’s potential candidacy, in an excerpt of an interview aired Monday morning on CNN. The full interview — one in which he is alongside daughter Liz, promoting their new book — is set to air in full Tuesday night on “Anderson Cooper 360.”
“Well go for it, Joe,” he added. “He’s tried twice before. He obviously is interested. I think there’s a lot of support for him in the Democratic Party. I think it would stir things up. They’re short of candidates on their side. So I would urge Joe to have a shot at it.”
Cheney, who served under President Bush from 2001-09, remarked on the notion that Hillary Clinton had all but locked up the Democratic presidential nomination, but that is “now pretty well gone by the boards because of her problems,” he said.
“So she does have some opposition now, and my bet is Joe’s gonna run,” he said, adding, “there’s a very real possibility” of Clinton’s email scandal undermining her candidacy.
Though Biden has remained mum on his 2016 intentions, he has been building on garnered support in recent weeks. However, should he decide to run, he still has a way to go to catch Clinton, the front-runner.
According to a RealClearPolitics average of polls, Biden garners 14 points. Clinton leads with roughly 48 points, followed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders at approximately 26 points.
