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Joe Biden said he would nominate Barack Obama to the Supreme Court if the former commander-in-chief was willing to do the job.
The former vice president, who served two terms under Obama, was answering questions during a campaign event Saturday in Washington, Iowa, when he was asked if he’d ever nominate the 44th president to the nation’s highest court.
“If he’d take it, yes,” Biden said in response.
The only former president to have joined the Supreme Court was William Howard Taft.
The move, if Biden were elected as president in 2020, would stand to make Obama the second president in American history to also serve as a Supreme Court justice. The first president to do so was William Howard Taft, who occupied the Oval Office from 1909 to 1913.
See: McConnell says Senate would fill a potential Supreme Court opening in 2020, unlike in 2016: report
It is unclear if Obama is interested in a seat on the bench, or if his former vice president has had discussions with him about a potential nomination.
Obama taught courses in constitutional law at the University of Chicago from 1992 until his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004. He was a senior lecturer from 1996 to 2004, concurrent with his service in the Illinois state senate.
Biden, 77, would likely have to clinch the Democratic Party’s nomination before starting to seriously consider Supreme Court picks. He currently is leading the Democratic field nationally with 28.3% support, according to a Real Clear Politics average. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, trails him at 18.9%. In early primary states Iowa and New Hampshire, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg joins Biden and Sanders in the top three, based on polling averages.
A version of this report previously appeared at NYPost.com.
Key Words: When Biden gave Obama a friendship bracelet for his 55th birthday
