Former US Vice-president Joe Biden has stated that he could die while in office if elected as US president this year.
Biden is the favorite to clinch the Democratic slot for President in the upcoming 2020 US presidential elections and will battle it out with Trump if he clinches the nomination, but says he will need to select a vice president who can quickly assume presidency in case he dies.
Biden’s reference about his age came after a man in the crowd asked if he would pick Senator Kamala Harris to be his VP.
Harris dropped out of the race to be president in December but if Biden manages to reach the White House, he would be the oldest president ever elected as by that time, he will be 78.
‘I can think of at least eight women, at least four or five people of color, that I think are totally qualified to be vice president of the United States,’ the former vice president said during a campaign event in Clinton, Iowa on Thursday.
‘But for me, it has to be demonstrated that whoever I pick is two things: One, is capable of being president because I’m an old guy,’ Biden said.
‘No, I’m serious. Look, I thank God I’m in great health. I work out. No, I’m serious. You know, I work out every morning. I’m in good shape — knock on wood, as my mother would say,’
‘I released all my medical records,’ Biden added. ‘But you never know. You never know what’s going on. And I’m sure what would happen is I have — some people looking would say, ‘Is the person Biden picked capable of, God forbid something happened to Biden, that they would be able to take over immediately?’
‘I think Kamala Harris has the capacity to do just about anything, along with a lot of other people. I think she is bright as can be,’ Biden said.
‘She can do anything from the court to being attorney general to being vice president to being a cabinet member to staying in the Senate.’
