Biden: Clinton’s 2016 campaign lacked ‘joy’

Former Vice President Joe Biden criticized 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in an interview published Wednesday, saying the former secretary of State didn’t show any “joy” throughout her campaign for the presidency.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Biden explained a passage in his memoir, “Promise me, Dad,” in which he describes a meeting with Clinton and feeling “a twinge of sadness” for the first woman to be nominated by a major party for the nation’s highest office.

“The sage political analysts would say she was probably on her way to a historic victory — the first woman to win the White House,” Biden wrote. “But she did not evince much joy at the prospect of running. I may have misread her entirely that morning, but she seemed to me like a person propelled by forces not entirely of her own making.”

{mosads}

Biden said that during his meeting with Clinton in 2016, he got the sense that Clinton was a “prisoner of history.”

“Everyone thinks it was just raw ambition on her part,” he said. “I think she was sort of a prisoner of history. First woman who had a better-than-even chance of getting the nomination. First woman, relative to the Republican field, who had a better-than-even chance of being president.”

The former vice president went on to explain that the expectations for Clinton weighed her down, and led to a joyless campaign.

“There’s a lot of baggage, fair and unfair, and there was no illusion on her part — this wasn’t going to be a Marquess of Queensberry fight,” Biden said. “And so I never got the sense that there was any joy in her campaign.”

“Maybe it’s me, but I find joy in doing this,” he added.

In the interview, Biden wouldn’t rule out a 2020 run, but cautioned that he hasn’t make a decision in favor or against it.

 “I haven’t decided to run, but I’ve decided I’m not going to decide not to run,” Biden said.

“We’ll see what happens,” he said.