Who would think that a quick trip to The Oprah Winfrey Show on the day before the inauguration could bring more trouble for Joe Biden.
Biden apparently had to shush his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, when she claimed Barack Obama had offered him the choice of serving as Vice President or serving as his Secretary of State.
I don't watch Oprah and I'm too cheap to pay $15 for a transcript, so here's what was said according to The New York Times:
"Joe had the choice to be secretary of state or vice president," she said. There was a brief pause and Mr. Biden went "shhhhh."
"O.K.," Dr. Biden said in a matter-of-fact way. "He did."
Mr. Biden started laughing and hugged her. "Well," she said, as if to say, well, it's the truth.
"That's right," he said. "Go ahead."
Dr. Biden said that after the two offers came in, they discussed the matter.
"If you're secretary of state, you'll be away, we'll never see you, you know," Dr. Biden said she told her husband. "I'll see you at a state dinner once in awhile. But I said, 'If you are vice president, the entire family _ because they worked so hard for the election _ can be involved. They can come to our home. They can go to events, they can be with us all the time.' And that's what's important to us."
CBS News reported this statement at 4:40pm Monday by Biden spokesperson Elizabeth Alexander insisting that "President-elect Obama offered Vice President-elect Biden one job only -- to be his running mate."
"Like anyone who followed the presidential campaign this summer, Dr. Jill Biden knew there was a chance that President-elect Obama might ask her husband to serve in some capacity and that, given his background, the positions of Vice President and Secretary of State were possibilities," Alexander said. "Dr. Biden's point to Oprah today was that being Vice President would be a better fit for their family because they would get to see him more and get to participate in serving more."
One person says a discussion was had over choosing between two jobs. The other statement uses words like might, chance and possibilities.
Can they both be right?
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