In virtual campaign events and fundraisers over the past few months, Jill Biden has appeared with at least four women currently thought to be in the running to join the former vice president on the Democratic ticket, providing her with an up close view of the possible contenders as she serves as a sounding board for her husband in his decision making.
Jill Biden, like her husband, is in a unique position in this search having gone through the process when Joe Biden was selected as Barack Obama's vice president.
"Joe really knows what he wants in a vice president certainly because he's been there and he knows how important it is that the person he -- the woman he chooses will have the same values and the same values as to how to govern this country. So that's what he's looking for. I'm thrilled that he chose a woman, and so I'm looking forward to see who he chooses," Jill Biden said Tuesday on NBC's "Today."
Though she hasn't publicly voiced a preference for his running mate, Jill Biden has praised her husband's decision to select a woman and has provided some insight into her role as a confidant to the presumptive Democratic nominee.
"We have a marriage. We talk about things," Jill Biden said. "Don't you hope that your spouse is your best friend and your adviser and that, you know, you have this love affair together? Isn't that what a marriage is?"
Ultimately, she says the choice is up to the former Vice President, telling ABC's "Good Morning America," "I would hope he would listen to me and get my advice, but it has to be his decision."
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As the campaign turned virtual amid the coronavirus pandemic, the former second lady has held a number of virtual fundraisers and campaign events in recent months with women who could be potential running mate picks, including California Sen. Kamala Harris, Florida Rep. Val Demings, Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Biden said Tuesday that he would name his running mate in "early August," noting the announcement would be made "several weeks before" the Democratic National Convention, which is slated to take place August 17-20.
As the campaign enters the final month of his search, people close to the process previously told CNN that it has been heavily influenced by a national reckoning on racism, following national protests on the police killings of George Floyd in Minnesota and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky. Biden has faced both public and private pressure to select a woman of color for the vice presidential slot.
Jill Biden did not say on Tuesday whether Biden would choose a woman of color to be his running mate, but told ABC's "The View," "I think we need women of color in every level of government, in every branch of government and especially on the Supreme Court, which Joe has committed to do, to put a woman of color on the Supreme Court."
CNN previously reported that more than a dozen people close to the Biden search p
