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Biden Says He's the 'Most Qualified' to Be President'


FILE - Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden campaigns for Democratic U.S. congressional candidate Mikie Sherrill at Montclaire State University in Montclair, New Jersey, Sept. 5, 2018.
FILE - Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden campaigns for Democratic U.S. congressional candidate Mikie Sherrill at Montclaire State University in Montclair, New Jersey, Sept. 5, 2018.

Former Vice President Joe Biden said Monday night whether he makes a White House run in 2020 will depend on whether he and his family are “ready,” though he stressed his credentials.

"I think I’m the most qualified person in the country to be president,” Biden told an audience in Missoula, Montana, on a stop to promote his book "Promise Me, Dad.” “The issues that we face as a country today are the issues that I’ve worked on my whole life — the plight of the middle class and foreign policy. But my family and I need to decide as a unit whether we’re ready — we do everything as a family."

Biden, the vice president to two-term Democratic president Barack Obama, said he would make a decision about the 2020 campaign the next six weeks to two months.

"I have two young grandchildren my son left who love me and adore me and want me around,” the former vice president said. “I want to be there to take care of them, so we've got to figure out whether or not this is something we can all do as a family.”

Biden has said the passing of of his eldest son, Beau Biden, in 2015 from brain cancer, kept him from running for president in 2016. Many observers expect him to do so in 2020. A November Reuters/Ipsos poll found that Biden led the already-crowded field of potential Democratic contenders.

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