Obama to Biden on 2020 Run: 'You Don’t Have to Do This, Joe'
Former president doesn't want Biden to 'embarrass himself'
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Former Presdient Barack Obama told his former Vice President Joe Biden he didn't "have to" run for president in 2020, according to a report from The New York Times.
The former president reportedly told Biden, “You don’t have to do this, Joe, you really don’t."
According to the report, Obama also attempted to persuade Biden to sit out of the 2016 presidential race, arguing Hillary Clinton stood a better chance in winning the election.
Obama was also reportedly concerned about the vice president's state of mind following the death of his son, Beau.
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But Biden responded to Obama's advice by saying he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't take this opportunity the second time around.
Obama has criticized Biden since his run saying that his advisers are "too old and out of touch with the current political climate," a cording to The Times.
In March, Obama met with two of Biden's advisers telling them to make sure the 2020 hopeful doesn't “embarrass himself” or “damage his legacy."
But it might be too late for that.
Biden continued his series of embarrassing gaffes saying last week he was the vice president in 2018 during the Parkland school shooting.
Joe Biden just said, “We believe in facts, not truth.” Does anybody really believe he is mentally fit to be president? We are “playing” in a very big and complicated world. Joe doesn’t have a clue!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2019
Oops: Biden says “we choose truth over facts” pic.twitter.com/bkohPsOmJC
— Natasha Korecki (@natashakorecki) August 8, 2019
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Biden claimed he was VP and oversaw the attacks at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that took the lives of 17 people in Parkland, Florida on February 14, 2018.
According to Bloomberg, while speaking to a group of reporters at a pro-gun control forum in Iowa on Saturday, Biden said, “those kids in Parkland came up to see me when I was vice president.”
However, the Parkland shooting took place long after Biden had left office.
President Trump has pointed to Biden's well-publicized gaffes to make the case that he isn't fit to lead the country.
On Friday, the president said Biden "is not playing with a full deck" in response to his "poor kids" comments.
