Former Vice President Joe Biden takes the stage at Kingsbury Hall on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018. (Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Former Vice President Joe Biden says he initially refused to run with then-presidential candidate Barack Obama a decade ago, but his family ultimately convinced him he had to support an African-American candidate with a real chance of winning.
Biden was greeted with a standing ovation when he spoke Thursday at the University of Utah amid speculation about whether he’ll launch his own campaign for president.
He did not directly address the possibility of another run in the speech that marks his final public event for 2018.
Biden also spoke about the pain of losing his son Beau to a brain tumor in 2015, and his decision not to run for president the following year despite having assembled a team to “continue what Barack and I started.”
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