Washington: Former US Vice President Joe Biden told a crowd of Democrats at an event in New Hampshire that he will not run for President in 2020, the media reported.


COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

Biden spoke on Sunday night at an annual dinner hosted by the New Hampshire Democratic Party in a state that the 74-year-old has come to know well through two unsuccessful presidential campaigns of his own and two more as a running mate, CNN reported.


Biden, who advisers say is currently nowhere near making a decision on 2020, addressed the question head on. 


"Guys, I'm not running!" he said with a smile, as the audience booed in response.


Regarding the 2016 presidential election, Biden said: "Trump was pretty smart. He made it all personal". 


"It would not have taken much for Hillary Clinton to win on Election Day, but too many Democrats decided to stay home...I'm absolutely positive they wanted to be with us. But we have to prove again we understand that hopelessness."


Accompanied at the dinner by his wife, Jill, and speaking for a full hour, Biden also wholly rejected the President Trump's worldview, especially on the issue of immigration, reports CNN.


He warned that the values like dignity and optimism that are at the core of the country were being eroded.


But he also insisted that the current political climate was just a passing phase.


"Tolerance has long been our greatest attribute...We've had our ugly periods, we've had our moments of shame, but the arc of this nation has been towards justice."


Biden spent eight years as Obama's deputy and he served as a US senator from Delaware for 36 years prior to that.