Susan Rice says she’s qualified to serve in Biden Cabinet

Former national security adviser Susan Rice says she’s qualified to serve in various posts in a potential Joe Biden administration.

Rice said in an interview with American Urban Radio Networks’s April Ryan released Friday that she has the right experience to lead the departments of State, Defense or Homeland Security or as director of national intelligence should Biden, the 2020 Democratic nominee, win in November.

Rice indicated she would not want to serve as national security adviser or ambassador to the United Nations, roles she held in the Obama administration, saying “that’s kind of redundant.”

She added her role in a possible Biden administration is “not up to me” and said the priority must be electing the former vice president and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), his running mate, to the White House.

“This is up to the next president of the United States and the Senate, if these are going to be Senate-confirmed positions. So let’s just hold our horses here. Job one … is we got to get Joe Biden and Kamala Harris elected. That is vital. And we need to flip the Senate. And then Joe Biden needs to decide what team he wants around him and in what constellation,” she said.

I interviewed @AmbassadorRice for #COVIDConversations & we discussed what other roles she could have in @JoeBiden’s administration if he & @KamalaHarris are elected in November. Watch!#SusanRice #JoeBiden #BidenHarris #WhiteHouse pic.twitter.com/fbmfY5mAFE

— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) August 21, 2020

Rice was reportedly among the top finalists to join Biden’s ticket as his running mate before he selected Harris for the role. Rice’s name has been floated for a number of foreign policy or national security positions in a future administration given her past experience and ties to Biden from working in the Obama White House. 

Should she be nominated for a position requiring Senate confirmation, Republicans are likely to hit her over the Obama administration’s handling of the 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, a topic the party was reportedly preparing attacks on if she had been chosen as Biden’s running mate.