Joe Biden: 'I'm the most qualified person in the country to be president'

WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Joe Biden on Monday said his decision about the 2020 presidential race will rest on a whether he and his family are "ready," even as he argued his strengths as a potential candidate far outweigh any perceived liabilities.

Biden's comments came during a brief tour promoting the paperback release of his 2017 memoir, in which he details his eldest son's battle with brain cancer and how his death kept him out of the 2016 presidential race.

"I think I'm the most qualified person in the country to be president. The issues that we face as a country today are the issues that I've worked on my whole life — the plight of the middle class and foreign policy," Biden told an audience in Montana, according to the Missoula Current. "But my family and I need to decide as a unit whether we're ready — we do everything as a family."

Biden was asked about factors that may hurt him if he runs - his reputation as a "gaffe machine" among them.

"I may be a gaffe machine, but my God, what a wonderful thing compared to a guy who can't tell the truth," he said. "No one doubts what I say, the problem is I sometimes say all that I mean. The question is what kind of nation are we becoming?"

Biden said his decision would come in the next six weeks to two months, according to a CNN report, in line with the timeline he offered when discussing his plans on Election Day.

"I have two young grandchildren my son left who love me and adore me and want me around. I want to be there to take care of them, so we've got to figure out whether or not this is something we can all do as a family," he said.

Biden has postponed a second stop on the book tour scheduled in the Dallas area Tuesday so he can attend memorial services in Washington for former President George H. W. Bush.