Biden says four Black women are on VP list, won’t commit to choosing one

Former Vice President Joe Biden on Monday said that four Black women are on his shortlist for vice president, but he would not say who they were and did not commit to picking one of them as his running mate.

Biden told MSNBC’s Joy Reid while sitting for an interview on the premiere of her show “The ReidOut” that he would not name any of the four, saying “I am not committed to naming,” but he added that on the list of contenders, “among them are four Black women.”

The Biden campaign has been confirmed to be vetting Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), while other Black women reportedly in the mix include former national security adviser Susan Rice, former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D).

Biden told Reid about six weeks remain in the vetting process and a “detailed analysis” of the finalists is currently underway.

“Black women have supported me my whole career,” Biden told Reid. “I have been loyal, and they have been loyal to me — and so it’s important that my administration, I promise you, will look like America.”

“Both from vice president to Supreme Court to Cabinet positions to every major position in the White House,” he added, referencing a pledge he made during the Democratic primary to appoint a Black woman to the nation’s highest court. “It’s critically important that be the case.”

The former vice president has long pledged to name a woman as his running mate, with other contenders reportedly including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D). Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) was also vetted for the position earlier this year, but in June she said she was removing herself from consideration to clear the way for a woman of color.

“I’ve never commented on this process at all but after what I’ve seen in my state, what I’ve seen across the country, this is a historic moment, and America must seize on this moment, and I truly believe … I think this is a moment to put a woman of color on that ticket,” Klobuchar told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell last month.