美国国家公共电台 NPR Biden Tells NPR He Has 'No Plans' To Run In 2020

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

He's well into his 70s, but Joe Biden doesn't seem to have lost much of his energy. The former vice¹ president has not discouraged talk of a run for president.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

He's promoting a book called "Promise Me, Dad: A Year Of Hope, Hardship, And Purpose." It reflects on his late son, Beau's, battle with brain cancer. The theme of the book prompted a question from NPR's Michel Martin when she sat down with Biden yesterday.

MICHEL MARTIN, BYLINE²: I couldn't help but wonder if this part of it has been hard. I mean, you revisited the year to write the book. And now, you're revisiting it to talk about it over and over again. What's this been like for you?

JOE BIDEN: Well, it's been a lot harder for me than I anticipated. And I found myself about three weeks ago when I realized the commitment I made to do this book tour that I wasn't - well, I'll be blunt with you. I've been fairly sure-footed about the things I'd done in my career. This is the one place that I feel the least sure-footed because the reason I wrote the book was I wanted people to know what a remarkable³ man our son was. And I also wanted to give hope to people who have gone through what we're going through without anywhere near the support we've had and some with considerably⁴ more difficult crises to face.

INSKEEP: Joe Biden's book comes as his party continues to grapple with the 2016 election and the way the Democratic Party handled the nomination⁵ of Hillary Clinton. That's another subject he revisited in his conversation with Michel.

M. MARTIN: As of course you know, Donna Brazile, who was the interim⁶ head of the DNC at the time - she replaced Debbie Wasserman Schultz - has now said in her new book that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's campaign dominated the DNC because they were raising money to pay their bills, and that she also says that she considered replacing Hillary Clinton with you as the Democratic nominee⁷. So is that true that Hillary Clinton kind of had her thumb on the scale? And, two, did anybody talk to you about replacing her?

BIDEN: No one ever talked about replacing her. Had they, I would have made it clear I would not be any part of that. That's number one. Number two, what I've noticed, whoever the candidate is controls the DNC. I can't think of a time when - I've been there for eight presidents and the nominees⁸ - whether it was George McGovern when I ran in 1972, all the way through to Bill Clinton, or when we were the - when the president was the nominee. And so I didn't find anything particularly unusual in the putative⁹ nominee, you know, being the person who was the dominant¹⁰ force in the DNC.

M. MARTIN: Do you think that the Russians interfered¹¹ in the 2016 election...

BIDEN: I know they did.

M. MARTIN: ...And if so, how?

BIDEN: I don't think. I know they did.

M. MARTIN: To what end?

BIDEN: Well, I'm not going to speculate in to what end, I assume is to help elect Trump¹² because all the negative stuff was directed against Hillary, number one. Number two, I'd been briefed before I left on it, when I still had the clearance¹³. And every single solitary¹⁴ major institution having to do with the intelligence community says they interfered. We're now turning out - all the stuff coming up on Facebook, all the stuff coming up. I mean, they were, at a minimum, trying to invoke¹⁵ some sense of chaos¹⁶ into the election. And I think it's pretty clear they were hoping that their efforts would elect Donald Trump.

M. MARTIN: This administration seems very dedicated¹⁷ to specifically rolling back policies that you and President Obama put in place, and I'm wondering what it's like for you to watch that happen?

BIDEN: It's distasteful, number one. It's sad, number two. But I still have hope because I think on the big policies - for example, I got criticized for saying immediately after they got elected - saying they're going to repeal¹⁸ Obamacare. And I jokingly said, lots of luck on their senior year, they're not going to be able to repeal it. And I was right. They can damage it but not repeal it. They're not going to be able to turn back what Barack and I did on gay rights and what we did on basic human rights. They're going to make it harder. They're going to slow it up, but they're not going to repeal. The American people have already crossed the Rubicon on the vast majority of these things.

Where they are going to do damage is when they attack basic fundamental ideals of what constitutes being an American. The idea that we had these guys coming out from under rocks and out of the woods carrying torches and chanting Nazi¹⁹ slogans, anti-Semitic slogans in a historic town in the United States of America carrying Nazi flags with white supremacy²⁰ alongside them and that not being absolutely condemned²¹, silence is complicity.

Not only was it not condemned, you had the president making a relative comparison between those there to stop them and those people. That is sick. That is dangerous. That's not who we are as Americans. That's the part I find the most damaging, the most dangerous, that it really does present - it not only casts an image across the world. Look. You know why we're the most powerful nation in the world. It's not just the example of our power, it's the power of our example.

M. MARTIN: So everybody and their brother has been asking if you're running in 2020, and I would probably get my reporter card revoked²² if I didn't ask you. So I have to ask you.

BIDEN: The answer is no. I have no plans on running in 2020. This is - my focus is on my boy. I want people to know what an incredible man he was, and I want people to understand that there is hope afterwards. He's still with me. And I'm going to do everything I can to elect a Democratic Congress. But what people want me to say is under no circumstances will I run. That'd be a foolish thing to say. I don't know what's going to happen two years from now. But I have done nothing organizationally or structurally²³ or in any other way to prepare to run for president. That is not in the cards now.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

INSKEEP: What reporters like to call a non-denial denial from former Vice President Joe Biden speaking with NPR's Michel Martin.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

4 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

5 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

6 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

7 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

8 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

9 putative   

adj.假定的

参考例句：

• There have been many attempts to track down the putative Loch Ness monster.人们为追踪假定存在的尼斯湖水怪做了许多努力。
• He is the putative father of this child.他是这孩子的推定的父亲。

10 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

11 interfered   

v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉

参考例句：

• Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

13 clearance   

n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理

参考例句：

• There was a clearance of only ten centimetres between the two walls.两堵墙之间只有十厘米的空隙。
• The ship sailed as soon as it got clearance. 那艘船一办好离港手续立刻启航了。

14 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

15 invoke   

v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求

参考例句：

• Let us invoke the blessings of peace.让我们祈求和平之福。
• I hope I'll never have to invoke this clause and lodge a claim with you.我希望我永远不会使用这个条款向你们索赔。

16 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

17 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

18 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

19 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

20 supremacy   

n.至上；至高权力

参考例句：

• No one could challenge her supremacy in gymnastics.她是最优秀的体操运动员，无人能胜过她。
• Theoretically,she holds supremacy as the head of the state.从理论上说，她作为国家的最高元首拥有至高无上的权力。

21 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

22 revoked   

adj.[法]取消的v.撤销，取消，废除( revoke的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It may be revoked if the check is later dishonoured. 以后如支票被拒绝支付，结算可以撤销。 来自辞典例句
• A will is revoked expressly. 遗嘱可以通过明示推翻。 来自辞典例句

23 structurally   

在结构上

参考例句：

• The house roof was (structurally) unsound. 这屋顶（结构）不牢固。
• Pinhole on shot-hole damage is never structurally significant. 针孔和蛀洞所造成的危害对结构的影响不大。