Joe Biden clearly wants to be president, and he’s polling higher than many other Democrats — so why hasn’t he announced that he’s running?
According to a new report from NBC News, it is concern for his family’s well-being that is holding the former vice president back from declaring a 2020 White House run.
“Family is the beginning, the middle and the end,” Biden said earlier this year. “Everything revolves around family.”
Creepy Uncle Joe
Biden, who served as vice president under President Barack Obama from 2009 until 2017, has run for president several times since his first bid in 1984, and he remains popular in the polls among Democrats, many of whom remain reminiscent of Obama’s presidency.
But the 76-year-old doesn’t come without baggage. As a white man, he fails to meet many Dems’ expectations for diversity in candidates, unlike other frontrunners like Sens. Amy Klobuchar (MN), Kamala Harris (CA), and Cory Booker (NJ).
Additionally, Biden has been the subject of multiple sexual misconduct allegations involving both women and young girls, which has earned him the unattractive nickname, “Creepy Uncle Joe.”
Family First
But perhaps most difficult for Biden to overcome is the potential impact on his family that a 2020 run would bring, according to sources close to the former VP.
“No line of attack would be more reprehensible to Biden than one directed at his family, and he and his team have been forced to consider that even as they also weigh the political dynamics,” NBC News reported. “Biden told his closest aides this week he has a few final ‘traps’ to run before a final decision — including gut-check conversations with his children and grandchildren.”
That includes Biden’s son, Hunter, who is currently in the midst of a bitter divorce. Hunter’s estranged wife, Kathleen, has alleged through her lawyer that her husband lived “extravagantly on his own interests (including drugs, alcohol, prostitutes, strip clubs and gifts for women with whom he has sexual relations) while leaving the family with no funds to pay legitimate bills.”
Kathleen Biden also accused her husband of being involved in an affair with his late brother’s wife shortly after his brother’s 2015 death from brain cancer. But in a letter to Vanity Fair, Hunter said that his problems would not stop his father from running for president.
“He loves the American people far too much to let any form of adversity stand in the way of service,” Hunter Biden said.
Rocky Road Ahead
Meanwhile, Democrats in Washington have expressed sympathy for Biden’s position.
“I offered my general advice that he should do what he does best, which is focus on the positive and let others take up the mantle of defending his family, his record and his honor to the extent that’s at all necessary,” Sen. Chris Coons (DE) told NBC News. But despite promising that he would announce his 2020 plans by the end of last month, Biden apparently remains undecided.
“Elected Democrats and key party figures who’ve spoken with Biden, in person or by phone, say he has been giving percentages of the likelihood of him running — from 70, to 80 and even more recently 90 percent,” NBC News reported.
But considering the way President Donald Trump’s family has been treated by the media over the last several years, we can’t say we blame Biden for being hesitant to announce a White House bid. Who knows what the press corps will come up with to keep him out of the Oval Office?
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