Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said he would consider choosing a Republican as his running mate for a "unity ticket."

While he couldn't think of a specific Republican off the top of his head, Biden said there were "some really decent Republicans" but the more "well-known" members of the GOP needed to "step up."

Biden has heavily emphasized his long record of reaching across the aisle to secure concrete legislative accomplishments throughout his 36 years in the US Senate.

Biden's comments also come after President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans spent months falsely accusing Biden of engaging in corruption.

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Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said he would consider choosing a Republican as his running mate for a "unity ticket," according to reporters from CBS News and The New York Times.

While campaigning in New Hampshire, Biden said that while he couldn't think of a specific Republican off the top of his head, there are "some really decent Republicans" but the more "well-known" members of the GOP need to "step up" against President Donald Trump.

Biden has heavily emphasized his long record of reaching across the aisle to secure concrete legislative accomplishments throughout his 36 years in the US Senate to pitch himself as a consensus builder who can break through the gridlock to get things done.

In 2018, Biden even gave a paid speech praising Republican Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan in a competitive race as "one of the finest guys I've ever worked with."

But Biden has been accused by his Democratic rivals of being naive in publicly saying that the GOP will go back to business as usual after Trump is out of office. In both May and November of this year, Biden said that the GOP would have "an epiphany" after Trump is gone and start working with Democrats again.

Biden's comments also come after Trump and congressional Republicans have spent months falsely accusing Biden of engaging in corruption. They have alleged he called for the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor to protect his son Hunter.

On December 18, the House impeached Trump, charging him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The move came after a series of events that culminated in a July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which, days after placing a hold on a $400 million military-aid package, Trump pressured the Ukrainian government to investigate Biden and Hunter.

Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian oil and gas company, from 2014 to 2019. Trump and his allies have, without evidence, accused Joe Biden of using his power as vice president to urge Ukraine to fire a prosecutor who was investigating Burisma in order to protect Hunter.

Despite Trump and the GOP's allegations, both US and Ukrainian government officials have confirmed there's no evidence that the Bidens did anything improper.

During the impeachment proceedings, no congressional Republicans stood up for Biden or voted in favor of the impeachment articles.

While there are a few vocal anti-Trump Republicans, including Trump's primary challengers, former Rep. Joe Walsh and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, virtually every prominent GOP politician and member of Congress is in firm lockstep with Trump.

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