Former Vice President Joe Biden’s wife, Jill Biden, called on voters on Monday to disregard policy preferences but rather to vote for her husband because he has the best shot at beating Donald Trump, The Hill reported.
“I know that not all of you are committed to my husband, and I respect that, but I want you to think about your candidate, his or her electability, and who’s going to win this race,” Jill Biden said at a campaign event in Manchester, N.H., according to video from MSNBC.
Mrs. Biden was citing the former VP’s position in the polls and added that he was on the top of the 2020 Democratic presidential field since last year, when he launched the campaign.
“I know my goal is to beat Donald Trump. We have to have someone who can beat him. So if you look at the polls, if you look at Joe with his record with independents,” she said, adding that candidates couldn’t rely only on Democratic voters in the 2020 election.
“So yes, you know, your candidate might be better on, I don’t know, health care, than Joe is, but you’ve got to look at who’s going to win this election, and maybe you have to swallow a little bit and say, ‘OK, I personally like so-and-so better,’ but your bottom line has to be that we have to beat Trump,” Jill Biden added.
Her comments come amid a campaign in which there has been a debate among Democrats about whether to focus on electability or vote based on candidates’ positions. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released earlier this month found that 36 percent of Democrats simply want a candidate who can win the general election.
The poll also found that Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) were viewed as the safest bets to beat Trump among Democrats.
Biden has appeared in a strong position in surveys that pit him against Trump in a hypothetical 2020 presidential match-up. A Fox News poll released last week showed Biden with a 12-point advantage over Trump.
The survey showed Trump also trailing Sanders, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), albeit by smaller margins.
Biden’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for further comment from The Hill.
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