Rep. Maxine Waters said Sunday she’s confident presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden will choose a Black woman as his running mate ahead of his anticipated announcement in the coming days.
“It’s going to be historic whomever ever it is. Do I believe that it’s going to be an African American woman? I certainly do,” the California Democrat told CNN’s Jim Acosta on “Newsroom.”
Waters specifically cited influence from South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn as well as “the way African American women have emerged in this country, showing they’re the most reliable part of the Democratic Party” as the reason she believes Biden will select a Black woman.
Since pledging five months ago to choose a woman to join his ticket, 11 potential vice presidential candidates have undergone vetting of financial records, personal backgrounds and medical histories. The search is conducted in secrecy, with even many senior-level campaign aides not directly privy to what Biden is thinking.
But conversations with Democrats close to the process, along with party officials and donors who have also weighed in, suggest California Sen. Kamala Harris, former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are among those he’s seriously considering as he nears the end of his search.
Biden isn’t particularly close with most of the women on his list, people familiar with the search say, so he’s taking considerable time studying vetting materials, watching their television interviews and following his own gut with the goal of finding someone whose loyalty he believes can blossom into a true governing partnership.
“It’s been very orderly. Every one of the women I’ve — we’ve — interviewed is qualified,” Biden said in an interview released Thursday. “And I’ve narrowed it down.”
Pressed on Sunday if she knew who Biden would select, Waters offered, “I don’t know exactly whom it’s going to be. I know who I would prefer, but I don’t think who I would prefer has anything to do with who he’s going to select.”
“It seems to me that they have gotten down to possibly just two. And that is Kamala and that is Susan. So I believe it will be one of them. I do have preference,” she continued.
“I’m not going to say who it is at this point, but I think my preference is going to be the one that will be selected.”