President Joe Biden’s introduction to the White House was a hard sell, according to a new interview.
Biden admitted he had to be convinced to join former President Barack Obama on his 2008 presidential ticket, speaking on the Wednesday episode of the popular podcast run by late night host Conan O’Brien.
During an interview on “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” the 81-year old Democrat disclosed that he was ultimately convinced to join the ticket by his own mother, Catherine Finnegan.
Biden claimed he had initially declined an offer to be vice president from Obama.
“Barack, I don’t wanna be vice president,” the then-Democratic senator said of the prospect.
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The presumptive Democrat nominee asked him to go home and discuss the idea with his family.
“So I go home, sit everybody down. Everybody wants me to do it,” the incumbent recounted. “I didn’t want to do it.”
He added: “I called her, and I said, ‘The president asked me to consider being vice president. I don’t want to do that.’”
President Biden tells Conan O’Brien about a phone call with his mother when she encouraged him to be Obama’s vice president:
“She said, ‘Let me get this straight, honey: the first Black man has a chance to be president. He says he needs you. You told him no?’ I said, whoa.” pic.twitter.com/qDQ9NMKbiG
— The Recount (@therecount) December 20, 2023
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Biden’s mother supposedly set him straight in a family conversation.
“Let me get this straight, honey. The first black man has a chance to be president, he says he needs you, and you told him no?” she asked.
In spite of the nod for sidekick, the relationship between the two men has occasionally been chilly, according to some reports.
Obama was lukewarm about Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign at first — opting against making any endorsement or show or preference for his own vice president until the field narrowed between Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, according to Politico.
The president may have more pressing concerns than nostalgia and semantics.
Biden ends year with lower approval rating than past 7 presidents: poll https://t.co/xZHFXbhXBA pic.twitter.com/2nJV4icE1m
— New York Post (@nypost) December 22, 2023
The American public’s approval rating of Biden sits at a dismal 39 percent, according to The Hill.
