Joe Biden Gets Visibly Emotional Talking About His Late Son: ‘Beau Should Be The One Running For President, Not Me’

Former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden broke down for a moment when asked about his late son Beau Biden, and said that “Beau should be the one running for president, not me.”

On Wednesday morning’s edition of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, the former VP sat for an interview on a variety of topics, which concluded with host Joe Scarborough asking about Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015.

“How much is he with you everyday on the campaign trail, how much guidance and how much inspiration do you get from Beau, and not only his memory but also I know you’re a person of deep faith, having Beau walk with you everyday?” Scarborough asked.

After a deep breath and an emotional pause, Biden said “Joe, Beau should be the one running for president, not me.”

He paused again, putting his head down for a moment, then continued.

“Every morning I get up Joe, not a joke, I think to myself ‘Is he proud of me?'” Biden said. “Because he’s the one who wanted me to stay engaged, made me promise, ‘Promise me dad, promise me dad you’ll stay engaged.'”

That dying wish was the basis for Biden’s book about the tragic loss, Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose.

“Didn’t mean I had to run for president, but I would not, he was worried I would walk away from what I’ve worked on my whole life, since I’ve been 24 years old,” Biden continued. “And he is part of me, Joe.”

He went on to talk about grieving people he encounters on the campaign trail, and said that “all they want to know is that it is, that you can make it, and the way you make it is you find purpose, and you realize they are inside you. They are part of you.”

Biden also recalled moments when his son would buck him up before debates, saying “He’d grab me, he’d be the last guy talking to me, he’d grab me and say ‘Dad, look at me. Dad, look at me, remember Dad, home base. Home base. Doesn’t matter, just be who you are. Home base.’ I swear to God, you saw those pictures, I mean he grabbed me by the lapel. He still grabs me by the lapel every time I walk out.”

Biden often wears his grief on his sleeve, no more so than when he spotted an eagle during an outdoor campaign event in Iowa last September, and wistfully remarked “Maybe that’s my Beau.”

Watch the clip above via MSNBC.