Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden recently told supporters at a New Hampshire town hall that he would consider a Republican running mate to take on Donald Trump in 2020. Fellow candidate Bernie Sanders — currently second in the primary behind Biden — took a different approach and said he would not consider reaching across the aisle for his potential 2020 ticket.
“I think it is fair to say that I will not have a Republican as a vice president on my ticket, as a vice presidential candidate,” Sanders said to Fox News in Iowa.
“I will have somebody who shares my views. I am not aware of too many Republicans who do.”
Sanders’ answer was the polar opposite of Biden’s.
“The answer is I would, but I can’t think of one now,” Biden said. “Let me explain that. You know there’s some really decent Republicans that are out there still, but here’s the problem right now… They’ve got to step up.”
As the two front-runners in the Democratic presidential primary, Sanders and Biden have been taking every opportunity as of late to contrast their approaches to politics. The Vermont senator recently brushed off claims that he is too far left to defeat Trump and attacked Biden’s campaign for failing to stir the pot, contrasting it with Hillary Clinton’s failed campaign against the president. He continued to suggest that Trump is hoping to take on Biden in 2020, noting the former vice president’s vote for the Iraq War, the bankruptcy bill, and trade agreements.
Not long after Sanders’ comments, Biden was pressed by a CBS News reporter about how he felt about the Medicare for All advocate’s sentiments and whether Trump will “eat his lunch.”
“Tell him to come and I’ll give him some dessert at the White House,” Biden said jokingly.
It appears that Biden’s openness to the Republican Party may be working in his favor. The Hill reports that a new Hill-HarrisX poll released Monday reveals that GOP voters are more drawn to Biden than any other candidate in the Democratic presidential primary. In particular, 33 percent of GOP respondents said Biden was closest to sharing their political views. But it’s unclear if such people would vote for Biden over Trump, and Sanders was not far behind, with 28 percent selecting the Vermont senator.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, Sanders is being taken more seriously by Democratic insiders, who are starting to believe he could win the nomination. According to David Brock, a longtime Hillary Clinton ally, more people are coming to the conclusion that the nominee will be either Sanders or Biden.
