Obama Says Biden Would Use His ‘Good Instincts’ if Elected in 2020

Former president Barack Obama said he trusts Joe Biden would use his “good instincts” if elected as president, and aides that would turn those into “actual policy that works.”

Obama opened up about his vice president of eight years in the latest episode of “Pod Save America” out Wednesday. “He understands the importance of surrounding himself with people who are smart and are, you know, believe in science and believe in expertise and believe in, you know, institutional knowledge and experience,” the 44th president said.

“It means that, you know, his North Star will be good. But at the same time, you’ll have a lot of people around him who were able to translate his good instincts into actual policy that works.” Obama, who in April endorsed Biden in the 2020 presidential race, also spoke of Biden’s instincts in terms of the former VP’s vote for the Iraq War in 2002.

“He learned a lesson from that,” Obama said. “And as you know, he was probably the person who was most restrained in terms of use of military force among my senior advisers during the course of my presidency. He consistently believed that we should show restraint and humility and think through the use of military power and had huge confidence and faith in the use of diplomacy as a strategy for showing American leadership. And that instinct I think is going to trickle out.”

Sources: NYpost, Bloomberg; Image: NYpost