Vice President Joe Biden's decision Wednesday
against launching a presidential campaign triggered an avalanche of praise, I-told-you-so's, speculation — and social media chiding.
Hillary Clinton, who's already mounted a formidable campaign for the Democratic nomination, tweeted her admiration for the would-be candidate as a "good friend and a great man."
Sen. Bernie Sanders, running behind front-runner Clinton, said he hopes to continue working with Biden on issues of wealth, inequality and campaign finance.
"I look forward to continuing to work with him to address the major crises we face," he said in a statement, praising the vice president's understanding "the need to rebuild the middle class; and to address income and wealth inequality, a corrupt campaign finance system, climate change, racial justice, immigration reform and the need for publicly funded higher education."
Front-running GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump congratulated Biden for making the "correct decision" for himself and his family, then bluntly blasted Democratic polling leader, Clinton.
Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, in a statement to Newsmax, praised the vice president for his "profound impact on our party."
"There's no one quite like him," she said.
"[A]s Vice President, he's been a driving force behind everything that we've accomplished in the past seven years — from the economic recovery that started from the moment he and the President took office, to his shepherding of the Affordable Care Act through Congress."
She also noted, "Vice President Biden will tell you himself that he always says what he means and means what he says."
"Trust me … you only have to listen for a few moments before you realize that nobody believes in the work that we're doing — in our fight to lift up the middle class and make life better for every American — more than Joe Biden," she said.
Draft Biden, the political action committee that had urged the vice president to enter the race, said it believed Biden will continue to "articulate a vision" for the nation.
"While the vice president has decided not to run, we know that over the next year he will stand up for all Americans and articulate a vision for America's future that will leave no one behind," Will Pierce, the executive director of Draft Biden 2016, said in a statement.
On a very busy Twitter, Fox News host Greta Van Susteren wondered:
Washington Post journalist Dave Weigel tweeted a jab at CNN, which
hauled out a podium for the first Democratic presidential candidates' debate just in case Biden should announce at the last moment.
Democrat
Rep. Nancy Pelosi hailed the vice president as an "all-American patriot and middle-class warrior."
Statistic specialist
Nate Silver, editor-in-chief of FiveThirtyEight, congratulated Biden, tweeting "Good call, Joe."
CNN correspondent
Marc Lamont Hill, meanwhile, mocked: "Hillary is somewhere mad as hell at that Biden speech."
Conservative commentator Laura Ingraham noted she called it right:
And comic group "TrivWorks" posted a vine likely to find its way around the Internet, poking fun at Biden supporters:
While Twitter user Ameya Pense added another, titled "@HillaryClinton right now:"
Author
Joy Reid noted there's "good news for Biden:"
She added, "It's one thing to be the veep everyone loves. Quite another to be a candidate the media and other campaigns start going after."
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