Former Vice President Joe Biden has the experience and the “best case” among the crowded field of potential Democratic candidates for president, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday in a radio interview.
“My two cents, I think of all the names that are out there, I think Joe Biden has the best base,” Cuomo said in an interview on WAMC radio in Albany. “I think Joe Biden brings most of the secret ingredient you need for a Democrat to win, which is credibility.”
However, Cuomo shrugged off a follow-up question as to whether he would take a slot as Biden’s running mate.
“I’m not even focusing on any of that,” he said.
Cuomo on Tuesday was sworn in for a third term at Ellis Island, delivering a speech that was in large part a rebuke of President Donald Trump and his policies.
Cuomo’s publicly backing of a potential Biden run came in response to a question about the formation of an exploratory committee by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Cuomo’s support for Biden comes after both men have appeared publicly close in recent years. As vice president, Biden held multiple events with Cuomo to discuss federal funding for major infrastructure projects.
Biden also campaigned for Cuomo’s re-election bid last year, appearing at the New York Democratic convention in May and later in a TV ad for the governor.
Cuomo’s support for Biden comes to the detriment of fellow New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who is also believed to be among those considering a campaign for president. Gillibrand and Cuomo are not considered especially close, but she did endorse Cuomo’s re-election amid his primary challenge from Cynthia Nixon last year.
But Cuomo in the interview leaned heavily on Biden’s experience in government.
“You have the anti-Trump feeling, which is pervasive and it doesn’t much to say I oppose Donald Trump as a Democrat,” Cuomo said.
The biggest challenge for Democratic presidential candidates “is going to be credibility,” Cuomo said.
“The main issue for the Democrats is not going to be the articulation of the negative. It’s going to be the articulation of the positive and credibility.”
He added: “Joe Biden can say, ‘I was there, I wasn’t the president, but I was the second seat.'”