Joe Biden’s running mate: Announcement to come within the week; who is he considering?

Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden will announce his pick for a running mate for the 2020 presidential election within a week, his campaign confirmed on Tuesday.

Biden, who vowed to choose a female running mate during one of the 11 Democratic debates, told MSNBC’s Joy Reid on her show “The ReidOut” last week that he was “not committed to naming any (of the potential candidates), except the people I’ve named, and among them there are four Black women.”

Biden’s upcoming announcement may have been upended when the website Politico posted a story that said Biden had chosen Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California, as his running mate. The post said that Biden had chosen Harris on Aug. 1, which would be four days after the story was published.

"Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris to become his running mate for the 2020 election on Aug. 1, two weeks before the Democratic National Convention, after keeping his choice close to the chest for months," Politico wrote in the post.

“In his announcement, Biden called Harris ‘a worthy opponent and a worthy running mate,’ alluding to the pair’s rivalry during the earlier stages of the Democratic primary. She will bring her experience as a prosecutor, household name recognition, and skill as a debater to the ticket,” Politico’s post read.

Politico explained that the post was a "placeholder text" for Harris and was accidentally published. It has since been removed.

“Placeholder text was mistakenly published to the site,” Brad Dayspring, Politico’s vice president of marketing told Fox News. “Our standard practice is to use ‘lorem ipsum’ as placeholder text. In this instance, that did not happen. We regret the error and any confusion that it caused.”

At a press conference on Tuesday, Biden was photographed holding notes that had Harris’ name written across the top. The note had five talking points, presumably about Harris, that said “Do not hold grudges.” “Campaigned with me & Jill.” “Talented.” “Great help to campaign.” “Great respect for her.”

Some speculate that the "do not hold grudges" talking point may be referring to a moment in the first Democratic debate in June 2019 when Harris attacked Biden on his civil rights record.

Biden’s campaign on Tuesday denied that Harris was already Biden’s choice.

In addition to Harris, Biden has named several potential running mates and last week said the vetting process was winding down and that he would be announcing his choice the first week of August. Biden had said he would announce his choice on Aug. 1.

The Democratic National Convention begins on Aug. 17, where Biden and whoever his running mate may be will be accepting the nomination for president and vice president.

In addition to Harris, here are some of the women Biden is said to be considering as a running mate:

Karen Bass

Bass, 66, is a congresswoman from Southern California and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Bass was re-elected to her fifth term representing the 37th Congressional District in November 2018, and serves on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs where she is the chair of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations.

She is also a member of the House Judiciary Committee.

Keisha Lance Bottoms

Bottoms, 50, is the mayor of Atlanta. She was a prosecutor representing children in juvenile court, and a magistrate judge in Atlanta.

She also was elected to the Atlanta City Council in 2009 and 2013.

She gained some national recognition when she implored the people in Atlanta to protest peacefully in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minnesota.

Val Demings

Demings, 63, is a U.S. House representative from Florida, and a former Orlando police chief.

She rose to national prominence when she was chosen to be one of the managers of the House’s impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.

Demings was Orlando’s police chief for four years before running for Congress in 2012 in Florida’s 10th District. She lost that election, but came back to win the seat.

Tammy Duckworth

Duckworth, 52, is a senator from Illinois, a director of Illinois’ Veterans Administration and served in Obama’s administration at the Veterans Affairs Department.

A veteran of the US Army, she lost her legs when her helicopter was shot down in Iraq by a rocket-propelled grenade in 2004. She is the first woman with a disability to be elected to Congress and the first senator to give birth while in office.

She was born in Bangkok to a Thai-Chinese mother and a former US Marine and Army officer.

Michelle Lujan Grisham

Grisham is the governor of New Mexico and before that was the state’s secretary of health and director of the Agency on Aging.

She was the first governor in the United States to shut down her state when the pandemic was declared.

Grisham, 60, was the chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus from 2017 to 2019.

Kamala Harris

Harris, 55, is one of the two female senators from California. She is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother.

She launched her own campaign for the 2020 presidential nomination but bowed out on Dec. 3. She publicly endorsed Biden.

She was the attorney general of California and a close friend of Biden’s late son, Beau.

Susan Rice

Rice is the former national security adviser to former President Barack Obama and the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Rice, 55, worked with Biden in the White House on foreign policy issues.

She has never been a candidate for public office.

Elizabeth Warren

Warren, 71, is a senator from Massachusetts and was a candidate for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president.

She is articulate and is a former Harvard Law School professor. She helped to establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that monitors the transactions and operations of financial institutions.

She is considered a progressive and has pulled Biden to the left in his platform.

Gretchen Whitmer

Whitmer is the governor of Michigan, and in that role has had to deal with opponents who have protested against her shutdown of the state’s economy and her stay-at-home orders.

She gave the Democratic response to the 2020 State of the Union address.

Whitmer, 48, served in Michigan’s house and senate.

Cox Media Group