Susan Rice ‘humbled and honored’ by rumors Biden considering her for VP

Former national security adviser Susan Rice said Monday that she is “humbled and honored” to be considered as a possible running mate for former Vice President Joe Biden. 

Asked by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow if she is “in talks with the Biden campaign,” Rice responded: “To the extent that it is reported that I am under consideration in a serious way for the vice president slot, let me just say that I’m extremely humbled and honored to be talked about in the context of so many extraordinary women.”

“All I care about is getting Joe Biden elected president of the United States so that we again have competent, compassionate, loyal, effective leadership in the White House and flipping the Senate so that the Democrats control the Senate so we can pursue an agenda of healing for this country, one that tries to address the extraordinary racial and socioeconomic disparities that have been plain for all to see and that can restore our global leadership,” Rice continued.

She added that she will do “do everything I can, whether it’s the modern day equivalent of licking envelopes or raising money to serve in the capacity that he thinks is appropriate. I’ll do anything I can to affect this change for our nation because I don’t think there’s any higher imperative.”

Last month, Rice said that she would “certainly say yes” if Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, asked her to be his running mate, adding then that “I want to enable him to become the next president of the United States in any way I can.” 

Biden has pledged to pick a woman as his running mate. He is also reportedly considering Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Kalama Harris (D-Calif.) and Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), among others.

Rice, who also served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under former President Obama, has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration. Earlier this month, she called the administration “racist to its core for the last three and half years.” 

She also praised Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) for withdrawing her name from consideration to be Biden’s vice presidential pick and calling for him to select a woman of color.

“What’s important about what Sen. Klobuchar said and did is that she made clear that this election, and whoever Joe Biden chooses among many very talented candidates, is about getting Joe Biden in the White House, somebody who can heal and unify the nation, and remove Donald Trump and consign him and those who have supported him in the Senate to the trash heap of history,” Rice told MSNBC.