Former Vice President Joe Biden told the New York Times that John McCain urged him to “not walk away” from politics during a visit to the Arizona senator’s ranch last Sunday.

According to the Times: “The Republican senator encouraged the former Democratic vice president to ‘not walk away’ from politics, as Mr. Biden put it before refusing to discuss a possible 2020 presidential run.”

The Times piece details the “memories and regrets” shared with friends who have come to visit the ailing McCain at his Arizona ranch–one of whom was Biden on Sunday–offered details of conversations that were “not all nostalgia.”

McCain also discussed his views about the current state of the country with the former vice president.

“Here John knows he’s in a very, very, very precarious situation, and yet he’s still concerned about the state of the country,” Biden told the Times. “We talked about how our international reputation is being damaged and we talked about the need for people to stand up and speak out.”

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