Biden told senior Democrat he is giving 2020 presidential race 'a shot,' according to The Hill

Former Vice President Joe Biden told a senior Democratic lawmaker he will run for president in 2020, The Hill reported Tuesday.

The congressman, who remained anonymous in the story, told the political website that Biden said he is "giving it a shot" during a phone call last week.

The lawmaker interpreted this as a sign that Biden will be running for president, The Hill reported.

During this brief phone call, Biden asked the lawmaker if he "could bounce some campaign strategy ideas off the lawmaker and invited the lawmaker to sit down with him in person in the near future," The Hill reported. 

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Biden said he and his wife Jill had just gotten back from a vacation in St. Croix in the Caribbean, according to the Hill. The Associated Press has reported that the Bidens discussed potential dangers of running for president during this trip.

Spokesman Bill Russo told The Hill that Biden has "not made a final decision" regarding a run for president. 

This comes one day after Delaware U.S. Sen. Chris Coons said on "CBS This Morning" that he is "confident" Joe Biden is going to run for president and provided some insight into how the former vice president will run his 2020 campaign.

"I'm optimistic he's going to run," Coons, Delaware's junior senator, said on CBS This Morning. "Everything is put in place but that last decision, which understandingly is a big decision."

On Tuesday morning, Biden addressed an enthusiastic gathering of union firefighters in Washington, D.C., to chants of "Run, Joe, run," news outlets reported. 

Biden again declined to make any official announcement, but told the crowd at the International Association of Firefighters gathering to save their energy, because "I may need it in a few weeks," the Associated Press reported.

Biden covered a number of potential campaign themes, the AP noted, including criticizing Trump and Republicans on policies he said favored the wealthy, and warning of divisiveness in politics.  

Speculation surrounding Biden announcing his campaign for president has grown in the past week. The New York Times reported last week that Biden's strategist Steve Ricchetti was telling Democrats the former vice president was 95 percent of the way toward deciding to run. 

Announcements of members of Biden's inner circle, including daughter Ashley, leaving their jobs last week, also fueled rumors. 

Biden is also leading in the polls, despite not being an official presidential candidate. The Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll found that 27 percent of likely Democratic caucus-goers say Biden is their first choice for president.

While this is a decrease from 32 percent in December, he's still ahead of the 19 other declared and potential candidates tested, the poll found. 

Contact Meredith Newman at (302) 324-2386 or mnewman@delawareonline.com and on Twitter @MereNewman.