Vice President Joe Biden Set to Announce His Presidential Campaign Decision, Reports Say

Impact

Vice President Joe Biden will reportedly announce his decision as to whether he will campaign for the White House following several meetings with labor unions influential to presidential campaigns, including the International Association of Fire Fighters and AFL-CIO head Richard Trumka, according to several reports. 

United States politicians and reporters flooded Twitter on Monday morning with news the vice president was expected to announce his decision within 48 hours, although this information remains unconfirmed from Biden himself. 

Pennsylvania Rep. Brendan Boyle tweeted, "For people who think it's too late for Biden to run, worth remembering Bill Clinton entered the 92 race in October." The Democratic congressman then tweeted, "I have a very good source close to Joe that tells me VP Biden will run for Prez." 

Fox News chief White House correspondent Ed Henry also tweeted Monday, "Three sources close to [Biden are] telling me he's expected to announce he is running but the sources are all urging caution on 48-hr timeline." The reporter later follow up, "The three sources say [Biden is] telling supporters in calls [he is] planning to jump in race but not rushing — watch [Saturday's] Jefferson-Jackson dinner Iowa."

Biden has been rather shy about stating his presidential intentions (or lack thereof), teasing reporters who have asked whether he'd throw his name in the ring of Democratic hopefuls. "I'll talk to you all about that later," he told a group of questioning reporters on Thursday, CNN reported. 

However, public support of a potential Biden run has been waning for weeks. According to the most recent CNN/ORC poll following Tuesday night's first Democratic presidential debate, Biden had slipped in support by 4% since late September. However, the VP still remains among the three leading Democratic candidates for the position — without even having to show up to Tuesday night's debate. 

Back in September, Biden said during an event held at the Ahavath Achim Synagogue in Atlanta that he "would not hesitate" to run if his family could emotionally handle the undertaking of a tumultuous and lengthy campaign following the death of his son Beau Biden in May from brain cancer, according to CNN. "If I can reach that conclusion that we can do it in a fashion that would still make it viable, I would not hesitate to do it," he said, CNN reported. 

Susan Walsh/AP

In a letter addressed to supporters from former Delaware Sen. Ted Kaufman, a longtime friend and adviser to Biden, the senator says the vice president is well aware of the importance of his decision.

"I am confident that the vice president is aware of the practical demands of making a final decision soon," Kaufman wrote in the letter obtained by the Delaware News-Journal. "If he runs, he will run because of his burning conviction that we need to fundamentally change the balance in our economy and the political structure to restore the ability of the middle class to get ahead."

Still, it remains unclear when exactly the vice president will announce his decision, and whether that decision will be a yes or a no