Biden Says He Would Have 'Never' Taken Clinton's Place

Joe Biden said Monday he would "never" have agreed to replace Hillary Clinton as the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016, following reports ex-DNC chair Donna Brazile said she considered switching the party's candidate after Clinton suffered a fainting spell just two months before the election.

"I give you my word," Biden said on NBC's "Today." "I would never have taken it. I was for Hillary. I did 83 campaign events for Hillary. I think I can say I did more events and worked harder for Hillary, as hard for Hillary, as anyone else. She would have been a first-rate president."

Brazile in her book, "Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House," wrote she considered using the power afforded her under the DNC's charter to replace a candidate should they become disabled. She said she received a call from Biden's chief of staff saying the vice president wanted to speak with her the morning after Clinton's spell, and she wrote she thought then, "Gee, I wonder what he wanted to talk to me about?"

Biden said Brazile's book was the first time he or any of his staff heard of such a possibility. He also noted he was not ready to run for president, regardless, a decision he made long before last fall.

"I was not ready in terms of my family," Biden told NBC's Matt Lauer. "So, no, I would never have done that."

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