How Biden feels about some of Harris’ top running mate candidates

By MJ Lee and Samantha Waldenberg, CNN

(CNN) — President Joe Biden acknowledged to reporters Friday morning that he and Vice President Kamala Harris have spoken about her upcoming decision on a vice presidential running mate.

But he wouldn’t say much else: “I’ll let her work that out,” Biden said, when pressed on what top qualities the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee should consider.

Still, inside the White House, the president’s close advisers have a good sense of how Biden feels about several of the men currently believed to be Harris’ top contenders heading into a critical weekend of final interviews with a decision to come by Tuesday.

One well-known Biden favorite? Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. Biden is a “big fan of Shapiro’s,” a senior adviser to the president told CNN. And given that the president himself frequently traveled to Pennsylvania as a candidate and has made no bones about the fact that he sees the state as one of the most important battleground states heading into November – just as it was in 2020 – for some of the president’s advisers, it’s hard to imagine him personally rooting for anyone but Shapiro.

That is, perhaps, anyone other than Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The most obvious reason? “He’s just a blast,” this adviser said.

In January, Walz was among a group of Democratic elected officials that joined Biden at an infrastructure event in Superior, Wisconsin. The president’s formal remarks were at Earth Rider Brewery – afterwards, the group made their way over to the Cedar Lounge taproom to greet voters, where beers were freely flowing. Walz, the adviser recalled, was having a great time – and it all felt infectious.

“Biden was in the best mood ever,” this adviser chuckled, and they said that, at the time, advisers to the president joked with one another that perhaps the team should find ways to have Walz around Biden more “because he always put him in such a great mood.”

As for Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, also seen as a serious contender for Harris’ running mate, this adviser acknowledged that Biden is not as personally close to the senator as he might be with some of the others on the list but noted that the president is very fond of both the senator and his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords.

On Friday, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison announced that Harris had earned enough delegate votes to secure the party’s presidential nomination. Harris is in the final stages of choosing her running mate and is expected to meet with the top finalists – including Walz, Shapiro, Kelly, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker – over the weekend.

Harris and her vice presidential pick will spend next week campaigning across the battleground states, starting with a Tuesday night rally in Philadelphia.

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