Joe Biden — Vice President of the United States, celebrity crush of Leslie Knope, hero of The Onion — is reportedly considering a run for president.
According to the New York Times, Biden is in the early stages of “actively explor[ing] a possible presidential campaign.” If he joins the race, this would be the third time Biden has sought the presidency.
Biden’s advisers are in talks with Democratic leaders and donors “who have not yet committed to Mrs. Clinton or who have grown concerned about what they see as her increasingly visible vulnerabilities as a candidate,” the Times reports. Biden’s son Beau died this May at the age of 46, and “one longtime Biden supporter” cited this tragedy as a driving force behind Biden’s decision to enter to the race because he believes ‘that’s what Beau would have wanted me to do.’”
Those close to Biden told the Times that the Vice President wouldn’t make an official decision one way or the other until early September.