Obama: ‘No Way’ Would I Swap VP Biden For Hillary Clinton

President Barack Obama stands with Vice President Joe Biden as he makes a statement about Syria in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013.
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President Barack Obama said Thursday that he would have rejected his campaign staff’s idea to possibly switch former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in for Vice President Joe Biden on the 2012 Democratic ticket if he had known about it.

“If they had asked me, I would have said there is no way that I’m not running again with Joe Biden. Because I genuinely believe that he has been one of the best vice presidents in our history,” Obama told NBC’s Chuck Todd. “He also happens to be a friend. He also happens to be one of my most important advisers on domestic and foreign policy. I like him. When my back’s up against the wall, he has my back.”

According to Mark Halperin and John Heilemann’s new book “Double Down,” Obama’s 2012 campaign considered replacing Biden on the ticket with Clinton. Former White House chief of staff Bill Daley ackowledged that he signed off on research for the switch, which he said was just “due diligence.”

Obama aides have fiercely pushed back against the “Double Down” account, saying that the idea was never “entertained” by the president or his staff.

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