U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth is going to interview soon for the post of former Vice President Joe Biden’s running mate, her fellow Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said Friday.
Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, has said he will select a woman as his running mate and announced a vice presidential search committee late last month. In recent days, speculation about Duckworth as a possibility has steadily increased as the senator has been more visible on television in recent weeks and participated in virtual events for the Biden campaign.
Asked Friday morning in Chicago about whether he thought Duckworth was a realistic possibility as Biden’s VP pick, Durbin indicated she was under consideration.
“I support Tammy Duckworth. She’s spectacular, a great colleague and I hope that she fares well in this interview, which I think is going to take place soon,” Durbin said outside Stroger Hospital after he visited a COVID-19 testing facility. “And I’m totally in support of her.”
Durbin did not elaborate on the nature of the interview.
A Biden official said the campaign would run a “vigorous vetting process,” but declined to provide any additional details. A Duckworth spokesman did not respond to questions about whether the senator from suburban Hoffman Estates had an interview scheduled or whether she had submitted vetting materials to the campaign.
In a recent appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Duckworth was asked whether she had received vetting materials or questions from Biden’s campaign. She sidestepped the question.
“I want Joe Biden in the White House, and I trust that he’s got a process for putting together the right team to help him do that from the vice president on down to the cabinet members,” Duckworth said. “I personally have always answered the call when my country has asked me to serve.”
Duckworth is a Thai American veteran of the Iraq War who lost both of her legs after the Black Hawk helicopter she was piloting was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade. She was elected to a northwest suburban congressional district in 2012 and defeated then-U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk for his seat in 2016.
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Duckworth is lesser-known on the national stage than some of the other potential picks who frequently have been mentioned, including fellow U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren. Also often mentioned are former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Throughout her public career, Duckworth has been a close ally of Durbin, who has served as her political mentor and is the No. 2 ranking Democrat in the U.S. Senate.
“Let me tell you. If you’ve got Tammy Duckworth by your side, it’s a winning combination whoever you are. She is such an amazing person,” Durbin said Friday. “What a story. What a life story, what a story of courage and her comeback from this massive injury she suffered in service to our country is an inspiration.”
