An adviser to Stacey Abrams slammed Joe Biden's reported interest in her for Vice President as 'exploitative' and 'entitled'
- Former Vice President Joe Biden is reportedly considering tapping Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams as his running mate.
- Many of her advisers are suspicious of Biden's motives in possibly picking her, seeing it as a way for Biden to placate concerns around his record on race.
- One adviser to Abrams told Buzzfeed News the idea was "exploitative" given that Biden did not endorse Abrams in the 2018 Georgia Democratic gubernatorial primary.
- Abrams has thrown cold water on the idea, saying, "I think you don't run for second place...if I'm going to enter a primary, then I'm going to enter a primary."
Former Vice President Joe Biden is reportedly considering selecting former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams as his running mate - but some of her advisers are suspicious of Biden's motives in possibly selecting her for the ticket.
Biden recently met with Abrams, a rising star in the Democratic party in Washington, DC. According to Axios, the meeting was in part to discuss putting Abrams on the ticket early as a show of strength right out of the gate.
Representatives for Biden, however, have pushed back on the rumors. And Abrams, the former minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives and Georgia's 2018 Democratic nominee for Governor, publicly cast doubt on whether she would sign on to such a plan.
"I think you don't run for second place...if I'm going to enter a primary, then I'm going to enter a primary," Abrams told the hosts of The View on Wednesday when asked if she would consider joining forces with Biden.
Advisers for Abrams are also casting doubt on the possibility, according to Buzzfeed News.
"What makes it particularly exploitative is that Biden couldn't be bothered to endorse Stacey in the gubernatorial primary," an adviser to Abrams told Buzzfeed News. "Now he wants her to save his a--. That's some serious entitlement."
Biden originally scheduled a visit to Georgia to help Abrams campaign, but canceled due to a scheduling issue.
Another Abrams aide told Buzzfeed News that they would "be surprised if she does that."
Presidential candidates traditionally don't announce their vice presidential running mate until after they've secured their party's nomination.
Biden's possible entry into the presidential race has dredged up some of the more controversial parts of his political past, specifically his previous opposition to the integration of public schools in the 1970s and his treatment of Anita Hill, who accused Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1994.
Biden, who chaired the committee at the time, has been criticized since for striking a deal with Republican leadership to not allow witnesses who wanted to testify in support of Hill's account to come before the committee. Biden recently expressed regret over Hill not getting "a fair hearing."
The former Vice President's history is leading some Abrams allies to see it as a shrewd way for Biden to placate concerns over his previous treatment of Hill, a woman of color, as he plans to compete in the most diverse primary field in history.
Read more: Joe Biden says he regrets not getting Anita Hill 'the kind of hearing she deserved'
Abrams, who narrowly lost her bid for Governor in 2018 after spending years working on expanding voter participation in the state, is currently weighing her next move.
While hasn't clearly expressed interest in becoming Biden's Vice President, people close to her told Buzzfeed News they doubt she'll jump into the crowded primary field, or make a run for US Senate in 2020.
"I do not know if I'm running," Abrams told The View about a possible 2020 presidential run. "I'm thinking about everything."