On Wednesday, in a highly anticipated press conference from the White House Rose Garden, Vice President Joe Biden announced he will not enter his bid to run for 2016 president.
With his wife, Jill Biden, and President Barack Obama by his side, the vice president said that the window for a successful campaign “has closed,” while noting his family’s grief after his son Beau Biden succumbed to his battle with brain cancer.
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“As my family and I have worked through the grieving process, I’ve said
all along what I’ve said time and again to others, that it may very well be that the process by the time we get through it closes the window,” Biden said. “I’ve concluded it has closed.”While ending months of speculation about his political future as 2016 president, Vice President Biden did make it clear that he will not be silent during the time leading up to the election.
tom-banner ampforwp-incontent-ad3">“While I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent,” he said. “I intend to speak out clearly and forcefully to influence as much as I can, where we are going to go as a party and as a nation.”
Despite his announcement not to run, Biden delivered remarks similar to a campaign speech where he discussed income inequality, the importance of Washington working together beyond political party lines, and the importance of a national movement to cure cancer.