Joe Biden’s presidential campaign has announced its running-mate selection committee Thursday and the lack of diversity has people wondering who his pick will be.
According to NewsOne, the committee is made up of Los Angeles Mayor and campaign co-chair Eric Garcetti, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, and former White House and Senate counsel Cynthia Hogan.
The only black person on the committee is Delaware Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester. Now, many are wondering if Biden’s pick for vice president will be a white man or woman.
This could create some hurdles for the former vice president as South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, has been urging Biden to choose a black woman for his vice president.
Many believe Clyburn is the reason behind Biden winning that state’s primary over Bernie Sanders. The Washington Post said Clyburn “changed everything” for Biden.
“According to Edison Research exit poll data, 56% of South Carolina’s Democratic primary voters were African American, and they overwhelmingly supported Biden, who won 61% of their vote,” the post wrote. “Sixty percent of black voters cited the Clyburn endorsement as an important factor in their decision.”
Clyburn suggested Kamala Harris, Stacey Abrams, Democratic Reps. Marcia Fudge of Ohio, Val Demings of Florida, and Karen Bass of California as potential choices, as well as Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
In March, when asked if he thinks Biden will pick Abrams as his running mate, Clyburn said, “I doubt it,” insinuating that she didn’t have enough experience. “There’s something to be said for somebody who has been out there,” Clyburn told the Financial Times.
Last week, Biden told KDKA-TV that it’s “very important that my administration look like the nation,” and doubled down on his pledge to pick an African American woman for the Supreme Court, saying it “doesn’t mean there won’t be a vice president as well.”
Biden said he hopes to choose a running mate by July.