Biden declines to rule out tapping donors for ambassadorships

Former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday declined to rule out appointing campaign donors to ambassadorships or other posts if he wins the 2020 presidential election but said he would pick the “best people” for the jobs.

“I’m going to appoint the best people possible,” the White House hopeful told reporters on his Iowa “No Malarkey” bus tour, according to The Associated Press. “Nobody, in fact, will be appointed by me based on anything they contributed.”

“You have some of the people out there … that are fully qualified to head up everything from being the ambassador to NATO to be ambassador to France … who may or may not have contributed,” he added.

Biden’s stance is different from that of fellow Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who has denounced high-dollar fundraisers and criticized the bipartisan practice of candidates giving ambassadorships and other posts to significant campaign contributors.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has also capitalized on running a grassroots-heavy campaign. He and Warren have both raised millions more dollars than Biden, according to figures from the latest fundraising quarter.

The former vice president pushed back against critics earlier in the week, noting that Warren and Sanders both started their presidential campaigns with funds from their Senate campaign bank accounts.

Additionally, Warren has said she would fulfill traditional Democratic National Committee fundraising agreements if she wins the nomination, which would include headlining general election fundraisers that draw megadonors.