Vice president announces he will not run for president in 2016

WASHINGTON D.C. (KUSI) – Vice President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he will not be running for president in 2016.

Standing at the podium in the White House Rose Garden with his wife and President Obama at his side, Biden said the window had closed for a successful campaign, noting that his family is still recovering from the death of their son, Beau.

However, Biden made it very clear that while he isn’t running for President, he will not be silent.

"I intend to speak out clearly and forcefully, to influence as much as I can where we stand as a party and where we need to go as a nation."

He also sent a pointed message to the Democratic front-runner — Hillary Clinton — apparently rebuking her for her comment in last week’s CNN Democratic debate that Republicans were her enemies.

"I believe that we have to end the divisive partisan politics that is ripping this country apart, and I think we can," Biden said. "It’s mean-spirited, it’s petty, and it’s gone on for much too long. I don’t believe, like some do, that it’s naive to talk to Republicans. I don’t think we should look at Republicans as our enemies. They are our opposition. They’re not our enemies."

He added: "For the sake of the country, we have to work together."