President Biden is looking to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to be the next U.S. ambassador to India.
The White House had been rumored to be planning the move since May, but officially announced it Friday, touting Garcetti’s eight years as LA mayor, 12 years on city council and 12 years as a Navy Reserve intelligence officer.
n addition to his time in LA politics, Garcetti had also co-chaired Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, even arguing in a Fox News op-ed last summer that then-candidate Biden was “uniquely qualified” to lead the U.S. out of the coronavirus pandemic.
The mayor had previously asked to be removed from Cabinet consideration at the height of the U.S. coronavirus crisis last year. India is currently facing a surge in COVID-19 deaths and new infections.
“I have committed my life to service –– as an activist, as a teacher, as a naval officer, as a public servant, and if confirmed, next as an ambassador,” he wrote in a follow-up tweet. “Part of that commitment means that when your nation calls, you answer that call.”
