Former President Barack Obama reportedly told his former Vice President Joe Biden that he didn't "have to" run for president in 2020. “You don’t have to do this, Joe, you really don’t,” Obama told Biden earlier this year, according to The New York Times.
Their report goes on to say that Obama quietly tried to convince his vice president to sit out of the 2016 presidential race, arguing that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had a better chance to build upon his eight years as president. He was also worried about Biden's state of mind following the death of his son, Beau. In response to Obama telling him he didn't have to run, Biden, who believes he would've beaten President Trump in 2016, said that he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't take this opportunity the second time around.
Since then though, Obama has quietly chided Biden, saying that his advisers and inner circle are "too old and out of touch with the current political climate," The Times' report added. Obama met with two of Biden's advisers in March and told them regardless of the outcome of the election, the most important thing was that Biden doesn't “embarrass himself” or “damage his legacy."
