Former Vice President Joe Biden sat down with the President of Colgate University on Friday and participated in a question and answer series in front of a packed house. This Q&A came after Biden talked to the crowd about his hopes for the future and how he thought the country could better prepare themselves for an increasingly global and automated future. Biden’s most interesting comments came when answering questions about whether or not he regrets stepping aside during the Democratic primaries and not running for President himself.
The Utica Observer Dispatch reported on the lecture and question and answer session. University President Brian Casey opened the Q&A series with a straightforward question, drawing some laughter from the audience: does Biden regret not running against Donald Trump?
In typical Biden fashion, he was very frank in his response:
“On a college campus I will never, never do anything other than answer the question completely unvarnished and straightforward. The answer is that I had planned on running for president. And although it would have been a very difficult primary, I think I could have won.”
Of course, the two serious competitors in the Democratic primaries were former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Clinton defeated Sanders after a hard-fought primary, and won the popular vote in the general election by about 3 million votes, although she lost the electoral college to Trump.
Biden spoke about dealing with the loss of his son, Beau, who had encouraged him to run for the Democratic nomination. Ultimately, he stated that he did not feel he could focus on the race while also coping with his son’s death:
“I didn’t run because no man or woman should announce they’re running for president of the United States unless they can look the public in the eye and promise you they can give you 100 percent … At the end of the day, I just couldn’t do it. So I don’t regret not running. Do I regret not being president? Yes.”
Finally, when asked to remark on how the current President is doing, Biden was not optimistic. He did, however, have some advice for the gathered crowd:
“I really hope he grows into the job a little bit. I don’t have a lot of hope now … To all of you students assembled in this auditorium, we’re counting on you. You understand this better than most of us.”
Watch part of the Q&A session below:
Featured image via YouTube screengrab.
