Joe Biden, the US vice-president, has had a private meeting with Elizabeth Warren, the darling of America’s liberal left, stoking speculation that he is inching towards a run for the White House.
Mr Biden, 72, met Ms Warren for two hours at his official residence in Washington over the weekend. They are said to have discussed economic policy — a signature issue for Ms Warren, a senator and former Harvard law professor who rose to prominence campaigning for reform of Wall Street.
Ms Warren has resisted intense public pressure from rank and file Democrats to take on Hillary Clinton in the party’s primaries and her endorsement is highly prized.
The meeting is the strongest signal yet that Mr Biden is sounding out prominent Democrats before deciding whether to challenge Mrs Clinton.
The former first lady remains the favourite to be the Democrats’ nominee, but her campaign is being buffeted by a row over the private email system she used when she was secretary of state. Mr Biden is expected to make a decision next month.
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The chances of Mr Biden entering the race were initially viewed with scepticism in Washington. However, in a race full of surprises, few are willing to make definitive predictions. Bernie Sanders, a self-professed socialist, and Donald Trump, the billionaire entrepreneur and television star, have unexpectedly emerged as standard bearers on the left and right respectively.
On Friday, Mr Trump attracted his biggest crowd yet. Up to 30,000 people were estimated to have gathered in Mobile, Alabama, to hear him call for tougher immigration policies. The event led Mr Trump to be compared to George Wallace, the pro-segregation Alabama governor who ran for president as an independent in 1968. Mr Trump has repeatedly threatened to run as a third party candidate if the Republican party is not “nice” to him.
Ms Warren, when asked who would lead the Democrats into the election, said on Friday: “I don’t think anyone has been anointed.” She has criticised Mrs Clinton in the past for backing the credit card industry and for taking money from Wall Street lobby groups.
Mrs Clinton’s poll numbers have steadily deteriorated since she announced her candidacy in April. A large number of voters in crucial swing states now say that they do not trust her. Speculation that the Democratic party needs a “plan B” escalated this month after Mrs Clinton was forced to surrender her private email server to the FBI. Senior Democrats fear that a Justice Department investigation into whether she compromised state secrets will balloon as the election progresses.
Mr Biden, who commands great affection among Democrats, is still mourning the death of his son, Beau, who died of cancer in May at the age of 46. While ill, he is said to have urged his father to run against Mrs Clinton.
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Mrs Clinton is expected to interrupt a planned holiday this week to campaign in Ohio and Minnesota.