Demings: I’m ‘chomping at the bit’ to answer questions about Biden’s running mate search

Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.) said in an interview on Tuesday that she was “chomping at the bit” to answer questions about former Vice President Joe Biden’s running mate search as speculation swirls around Demings and other potential contenders. 

“Have you been vetted as a potential vice presidential running mate for Joe Biden?” SiriusXM radio host Joe Madison asked Demings on Tuesday. 

“Well, that is the question of the year, isn’t it?” Demings responded. “And while I am just chomping at the bit to answer that question, I’m not going to answer that question, but let me just say this: For someone who grew up the daughter of a maid and a janitor, poor in the South, to have my name called among some just extraordinary women in consideration is quite the honor for me. So that’s my answer.”

Demings’s comments come as Biden prepares to name a running mate in the coming weeks. 

California Sen. Kamala Harris (D) is seen as the favorite in the search for Biden’s running mate. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and former national security adviser Susan Rice are also considered serious contenders, along with Demings, Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

Demings represents Florida’s 10th Congressional District, which includes a swath of the greater Orlando area. Before serving in Congress, she worked as the chief of the Orlando Police Department. 

The congresswoman also touched on President Trump sending federal troops to cities, saying Trump was using the deployment “as a vehicle for his reelection.”

“We do know that the president has no interest. If he was the law-and-order president, then he would follow the law himself. If he was the law-and-order president, he would hold his friends accountable,” Demings said. “We know that’s not his intention. He’s desperate to be reelected. He knows he’s in trouble. And he’s trying to use these peaceful protests and demonstrators as a vehicle for his reelection. And he’s actually adding fuel to the fire. And it’s shameful.” 

Reports of protesters and federal law enforcement clashes have gained national attention in Portland, Ore., in recent weeks and sparked internal investigations into the authorities deployed there. The protests began two months ago in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd.