>>> ARE YOU SICK OF ALL THE TALK OF HOW YOU’D BE THE PERFECT
RUNNING MATE?
RUNNING MATE? >> LISTEN, I THINK IF PEOPLE
WANT TO SPECULATE ABOUT RUNNING
MATES, I ENCOURAGE THAT BECAUSE
I THINK JOE BIDEN WOULD BE A
GREAT RUNNING MATE.
AS VICE PRESIDENT HE’S PROVEN HE
KNOWS HOW TO DO THE JOB.
AND THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE
THAT WOULD BE A VIABLE VICE
PRESIDENT.
PRESIDENT. >> SHE’S JUST GETTING BETTER AND
BETTER.
BETTER. KAMALA HARRIS TURNING THE
TABLES.
TABLES. SURE SHE SAYS, JOE BIDEN CAN BE
MY VP, HE WAS GOOD AT IT.
HIS LEAD OVER THE FIELD HOLDS
FOR NOW.
FOR NOW. KAMALA HARRIS AND OTHERS ARE ON
THEIR WAY TO BUSTING DOWN THE
TOP TIER CANDIDATES.
BUT THERE’S ONE THING JOE BIDEN
HAS THAT THE OTHERS DON’T,
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S WATCHFUL EYE.
HE’S BEEN TWEETING ABOUT THE
PRESIDENT, AND IT’S NOT GOING
WELL IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
"NEW YORK TIMES" REPORTING, MR.
TRUMP’S ATTACKS ON MR. BIDE DEN
HAVE DEFIED THE PLEADINGS OF HIS
OWN AIDES.
OWN AIDES. CHRIS MATTHEWS HOST OF
"HARDBALL" IS JOINING US HERE.
THESE STORIES THAT ANYONE IN THE
WEST WING COMPLAINS, THEY DON’T
TRY TO GET HIM TO DO ANYTHING --
>> I TALKED TO SOMEONE ON THE
TRAIN COMING UP HERE WHO SAID WE
CAN’T STOP HIM.
THAT’S WHAT HE DOES.
YOU AND I AND YOU GUYS TOO KNOW
THE HISTORY.
THE HISTORY. LOOK WHAT LINDEN JOHNSON DID TO
RICHARD NIXON IN ’68.
HE MADE HIM THE NOMINEE
ATTACKING HIM.
ATTACKING HIM. IT’S WHAT YOU DO, NAME THE FRONT
RUNNER YOURSELF.
RUNNER YOURSELF. HE’S GIVING JOE BIDEN A FEW MORE
MONTHS OF HONEY MOON.
>> WHY IS BIDEN SOMEONE HE CAN’T
IGNORE.
IGNORE. >> BECAUSE OF WHERE WE’RE GOING
TOMORROW NIGHT, WILKES BURY,
ERIE, PARTS OF THE COUNTRY WHO
ARE BLUE COLLAR, WHO HAVE HAD IT
WITH THE PARTY, IT’S ELITIST,
DON’T TALK ABOUT JOBS.
THEY WANT SOCIAL SECURITY,
MEDICAID FOR THEIR LONG TERM
CARE AND A JOB FOR THEIR KIDS,
DAUGHTERS AND SONS TO LIVE
SOMEWHERE WITHIN DRIVING
DISTANCE.
DISTANCE. THEY’RE NOT GREEDY LEFT WING
ANGRY TYPES.
ANGRY TYPES. THEY WANT TO LIVE REGULAR LIVES,
WANT THEIR KIDS TO LIVE REGULAR
LIVES LIKE THEM.
THAT’S WHAT THEY WANT.
AND BIDEN SEEMS LIKE THAT.
>> BIDEN ALSO SPEAKS THE
LANGUAGE OF ECONOMIC DISPAIR.
I THINK THEY CAN ALL DO IT.
I’M NOT SAYING THIS IS A MESSAGE
EXCLUSIVELY AVAILABLE TO BIDEN.
IT’S INNATE TO BIDEN.
HE WENT TO PITTSBURGH AND SAID
THE STOCK MARKET IS ROARING.
HE ACKNOWLEDGED SOME OF THE
ECONOMIC REALITY AND SAID TO THE
ROOM, DO ANY OF YOU FEEL IT?
>> STEELWORKERS.
>> STEELWORKERS. BUT ALSO ON SATURDAY, COMING UP
THE 18th, HE’S GOING TO THE
ROCKY STEPS, THE ESSENTIAL BLUE
COLLAR GUY FROM SOUTH PHILLY,
ITALIAN STALLION, NEVER GOT HIS
SHOT, FINALLY GETS HIS SHOT AT
THE TITLE, THAT’S THE WORKING
CLASS DREAM OF THE GUY IN
PHILLY.
PHILLY. BIDEN SEEMS LIKE A GUY, HE SAID
I WASN’T PART OF THE ’60s, A
BERNIE GUY YELLING AT THE
ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, I WAS
WEARING A SPORTS COAT TRYING TO
GET THE CONVERTIBLE.
HE WANTED THE GIRL, HE WAS A
NORMAL GUY.
NORMAL GUY. HE GOES TO CHURCH ON SUNDAYS.
YOU KNOW, I FIND IT -- TO SAY
JILL DOESN’T GO ANYMORE.
THEY’RE VERY ANGRY AT THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH AND MAYBE A LOT
OF THINGS BECAUSE OF THE FAMILY
TRAGEDIES BUT THERE’S SOMETHING
HUMAN ABOUT THE BIDENS WITH ALL
THEIR TRAGEDIES.
THEIR TRAGEDIES. COMFORTABLE.
COMFORTABLE. AND I THINK THE THING ABOUT
HAVING A RUNNING MATE WE KNOW
THE REALITY OF THE DEMOCRATIC
PARTY, THE MINORITIES ARE GOING
TO BE ON THE TICKET.
THERE HAS TO BE, TOP OR BOTTOM.
PROBABLY A WOMAN HAS TO BE ON
THE TICKET, PROBABLY BOTH.
IT’S THE MATHEMATICS.
IF SOMEONE TALKS THE ANSWER IS
HE AND KAMALA.
SHE’S A FIRST RATE CANDIDATE
SHE’S NOT GOING TO SETTLE FOR
SECOND.
SECOND. BUT WHEN THE TIME COMES, SHE’LL
MAKE THE DECISION, HE’LL MAKE
THE DECISION.
THE DECISION. IF SHE HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE
VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES, WHAT IS SHE 45 OR
SOMETHING, WHO WOULD TURN IT
DOWN WITH HER AGE, ABILITY,
ACADEMIC ABILITY, PEOPLE TAKE
THE JOB, GEORGE BUSH TOOK IT,
LINDEN JOHNSON TOOK IT, JOE
BIDEN TOOK IT.
>> TO HER POINT, KAMALA HARRIS’
POINT, I THINK JOE BIDEN WOULD
TAKE IT AGAIN.
>> IS IT LEGAL?
I DON’T KNOW IF IT’S LEGAL.
>> I DON’T KNOW.
IT’S TIMES OF TRUMP, EVERYTHING
IS LEGAL.
IS LEGAL. THE IDEA THAT WE’RE TALKING
ABOUT THIS I THINK SPEAKS A
LITTLE BIT TO THE HUNGER, THE
HUNGER TO FIELD A FORMIDABLE
TICKET.
TICKET. >> AND SOMEONE WHO CAN SPEAK
ABOUT FOLKS AS OPPOSED TO TO
DIVISION AND ANGER.
JOE BIDEN CAN GIVE A GREAT SUB
SPEECH, ALL OF HIS OTHER
FAILINGS ASIDE, AND HE HAS MANY,
HE SPEAKS TO PEOPLE’S
ASPIRATIONS.
ASPIRATIONS. THE OTHER THING IS IN THE 2015,
2016 CAMPAIGN TRAIL, DONALD
TRUMP HAD THIS HOAX ON THE
PUBLIC, HE WAS SELF-MADE AND
CARED ABOUT AVERAGE AMERICANS.
WE KNOW HE WAS NOT A SELF-MADE
MAN AND WE KNOW BY HIS POLICIES
THAT HE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT
BETTERING THE LIVES OF WORKING
CLASS AND MIDDLE CLASS
AMERICANS.
AMERICANS. JOE BIDEN IS AN AUTHENTICALLY
SELF-MADE PERSON.
SELF-MADE PERSON. HE SPEAKS TO THE NEEDS OF THE
WORKING CLASS AMERICANS AND
SPEAKS ABOUT IT FROM HIS BONES.
>> YOU HAVE JUST LANDED ON WHAT
I THINK IS SUCH AN OPPORTUNITY
FOR DEMOCRATS, FOR WHOMEVER THE
NOMINEE IS.
NOMINEE IS. THE TRUMP BRAND IS THE HOAX.
>> YES.
>> YES. >> I THINK DEMOCRATS NEED TO
TAKE BACK THE HOAX.
>> HE WASN’T A SCHOLARSHIP KID.
>> TRUMP IS THE HOAX.
>> BIDEN CAN CHIP AWAY AT THAT
P.
P. I’M SKEPTICAL ABOUT THE TWO
70-YEAR-OLD WHITE GUYS FACING
OFF AGAINST ONE OTHER.
CHRIS, ONE OF THE WORDS YOU USED
IS COMFORTABLE.
IS COMFORTABLE. PEOPLE WANT LESS DRAMA, WANT TO
RETURN TO NORMALCY, SO HE CAN
HAVE THE RHETORIC OF HOPE AND
CHANGE AND ALL THAT, AND WE KNOW
HIM AND THERE IS THAT COMFORT
FACTOR AFTER THE EXHAUSTION OF
FOUR YEARS OF DONALD TRUMP.
I THINK THAT’S PART OF THE
APPEAL HE WOULD HAVE BOTH TO