Stacey Abrams: ‘I’d be concerned if Biden’s VP pick isn’t a woman of color’

The Georgia politician has not been shy about her readiness for the role

Apr 23, 2020

Democratic politician Stacey Abrams speaks to the media before the Democratic Presidential Debate at Tyler Perry Studios November 20, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Stacey Abrams doesn’t just think Joe Biden needs to pick a woman for his running mate, she believes it specifically needs to be a woman of color.

In March, the former Vice President made headlines after he vowed during the final Democratic primary debate with Sen. Bernie Sanders, that he was committed to selecting a woman to share the ticket with during the upcoming election.

The presumptive Democratic nominee has also made indications that he might seek out a woman of color. So Wednesday, during an interview on ABC’s The View, host Sunny Hostin asked Abrams, if she would consider it “a slap in the face” to Black voters if he didn’t follow through on that pledge.

Initially, it appeared as if the former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee would sidestep the question, telling Hostin that “I think Vice President Biden is going to make a smart choice, and I appreciate the fact that he has lifted up women as being a necessary partner in this.”

But then she continued, “I would share your concern about not picking a woman of color because women of color — particularly black women — are the strongest part of the Democratic Party, the most loyal, but that loyalty isn’t simply how we vote.

It’s how we work, and if we want to signal that that work will continue, that we’re going to reach not just to certain segments of our community, but to the entire country, then we need a ticket that reflects the diversity of America.”

In an interview on CBS’ Late Late Show with James Corden, Biden forecast that he would most likely have a shortlist of up to three potential running mates by “sometime in July.”

Abrams, a rising star in the Democratic party who met with Biden last year and has been widely speculated to be on his VP list, told Elle magazine just last week, “I would be an excellent running mate.”

Some have been taken aback by Abrams’ forthrightness over the last few months, but during her appearance on The View, she explained, “I try to be straightforward because while we hope the work speaks for itself, sometimes the work needs a hype man, and I learned early on that if I didn’t speak for myself, I couldn’t tell the story.”

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