WASHINGTON – A new book asserts the idea of replacing Vice President Joe Biden with Hillary Rodham Clinton was floated in President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, but the White House is downplaying it, saying the president never considered making a swap.
“Had anyone brought that idea to him he would have laughed it out of the room,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said Friday.
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In their new book “Double Down — Game Change 2012,” authors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann report that high-ranking Obama aides weighed recommending he replace Biden with Clinton, who was secretary of state at the time
Former White House chief of staff Bill Daley confirmed in a “CBS This Morning” interview Friday that the idea “was looked at” by Obama aides.
But he added: “Not for a moment was there a serious discussion” of dumping Biden for Clinton.
Carney added: “It’s important to know that campaigns, pollsters test a lot of things. What I can tell you without a doubt is that the president never considered that.”
“Joe Biden has been an excellent partner, in the president’s view,” Carney said.
Former campaign manager David Plouffe, in a Twitter post late Thursday, said, “Never any – any consideration of VP/HRC switch. Not even entertained by the only person who mattered. Or most of us. Back to Halloween.”
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