Joe Biden, smarting from a poor performance in Iowa, unleashed on his rivals for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination in a way he’s been hesitant to do before.
Biden, 77, who is slowly making his way around New Hampshire ahead of the state’s primary on Feb. 11, launched salvos at Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders, the presumptive winners of the Iowa caucuses based on preliminary results with only 71% of precincts reporting.
“Every Democrat will have to carry the label Sen. Sanders chose for himself. He calls him[self], and I don’t mean to criticize him, a democratic socialist,” the former vice president said in Somersworth, New Hampshire. “And we’ve already seen what Donald Trump is going to do with that.”
Biden last week questioned whether Sanders, 78, was a Democrat to reporters in Iowa before walking back the comments in a TV interview the next day.
The 36-year Delaware senator has spent his political career cultivating a “nice guy” reputation, earning the nickname “Uncle Joe” during his time in the Obama administration.
But on Wednesday, he also raised the heat on Buttigieg, the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, saying it was “a risk” to elect a city-level official compared to him.
Biden last week mocked Buttigieg for winning reelection in his home town with only 8,600 votes. But he was eager to draw attention to the new line of attack, calling on the mayor via Twitter to criticize former President Barack Obama.
“Mayor Pete likes to call me part of the old failed Washington. Was it a failure when I helped pass Obamacare, the Paris Agreement, the Violence Against Women Act, or the assault weapons ban?” he tweeted.
Mayor Pete likes to call me part of the old failed Washington. Was it a failure when I helped pass Obamacare, the Paris Agreement, the Violence Against Women Act, or the assault weapons ban?
I have a stronger record of passing big, progressive legislation than anyone running.
— Joe Biden (Text Join to 30330) (@JoeBiden) February 5, 2020
Biden, Buttigieg, and Sanders are the top three candidates in New Hampshire, according to RealClearPolitics data. Polling averages, however, showed a similar state of the race heading into Iowa, overestimating Biden’s showing and underestimating that of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Warren, 70, is currently in third place based on partial results coming out of the caucuses.
