Former Vice President President Joe Biden committed Sunday to choosing a woman as his running mate if he wins the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
But when asked if he would do the same were he the nominee, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders refused to commit to choosing a woman.
Both candidates’ comments came during Sunday’s Democratic presidential debate, hosted by CNN and Univision, in Washington, D.C.
“I commit that I will in fact pick a woman to be vice president,” Biden said.
When asked to confirm that he was committed to choosing a woman to be his running mate, Biden said unequivocally, “yes.”
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Joe Biden commits to picking a woman as his running mate.
Bernie Sanders says he will “in all likelihood” pick a woman as well pic.twitter.com/G6JLTnz2D1
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 16, 2020
Biden’s campaign seized on that moment, tweeting out, “My running mate will be a woman.”
My running mate will be a woman. #DemDebate
— Joe Biden (Text Join to 30330) (@JoeBiden) March 16, 2020
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When asked if he would do something similar, Sanders said it was “likely” he’d choose a woman to be his vice president.
But unlike Biden, he did not fully commit to choosing a female running mate.
“In all likelihood I will” choose a woman, Sanders said.
But he noted that it’s about more than gender for him.
.@DanaBashCNN doubles down: If you get nomination, will you pick a woman VP like Joe Biden?@BernieSanders: “In all likelihood I will. For me, it’s not just nominating a woman. It’s making sure we have progressive women…My very strong tendency is to move in that direction.”
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) March 16, 2020
“For me, it’s not just nominating a woman,” Sanders said. “It’s making sure that we have a progressive woman.”
“My very strong tendency is to move in that direction.”
.@BernieSanders responds: “In all likelihood, I will [pick a woman to be my running mate.]” pic.twitter.com/YjUQbYlVy2
— Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) March 16, 2020
Biden, for his part, has long signaled that he could choose a woman to be his running mate.
“Whomever I pick, preferably it will be someone who was of color and/or a different gender, but I’m not making that commitment until I know that the person I’m dealing with I can completely and thoroughly trust as authentic and on the same page [as me],” he told The Washington Post in August.
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