Biden doesn't rule out 2020 presidential run

Former US Vice President Joe Biden said that he was not actively planning a run for president in 2020, but he also did not rule it out, the media reported.

Biden made the remarks in an interview on Sunday with Oprah Winfrey as part of a publicity tour for his new book, "Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose", adding to speculation about whether he will join the next presidential race, reports CNN.

During the interview, Winfrey asked Biden if he had considered a 2020 run.

Biden responded: "No, not yet... And I say that 'not yet' because I'm a great respecter of fate."

The former Vice President added that he was not currently planning or organising a bid.

Biden's forthcoming memoir chronicles the year 2015, in which his son, Beau, died of brain cancer at age 46, and he decided against running in the presidential race out of concern for his family and the need to grieve for Beau's loss.

In the interview, Biden said he made the right call, but he repeated his regret that he had not ascended to the nation's highest office, CNN reported.

"I have a regret that I am not president... But I don't regret the decision I made because it's the right decision for my family."

Biden contended that while he thought he could have secured the Democratic nomination, he also thought Hillary Clinton would be a great president.

But, he said, as Election Day approached, he thought Clinton would lose.

"I did 83 events... A month out, I came back and said, 'We're going to lose this election'."

Biden also pinned Clinton's loss in part on "identity politics" and bemoaned her campaign's inability to follow in the footsteps of former President Barack Obama's successful presidential bids.

"I think what happened is we got to the point where it became identity politics... They learned the wrong lessons from Barack's brilliant campaigns."

--IANS

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