2020 Democratic front-runner Joe Biden thinks he could beat President Trump “like a drum” in the upcoming presidential election.
Speaking with donors at a private fundraiser on Sunday night, Biden declared that Democrats need to “literally restore the soul of this country” by defeating Trump, according to a pool report from the event.
“We know what this guy’s going to be. It’ll be ugly, it’ll be mean, it’ll be degrading,” Biden said of the fight against the president should he secure the Democratic nomination. “There’s nothing more important for us all to do but to make sure he does not prevail.”
He added, “Given half a chance, I think I could beat this guy like a drum.”
The former vice president continued on to stress that “we can handle four years of Donald Trump” but that electing him to another term could “fundamentally change the character of this country.”
Biden did not directly address recent reports that Trump pressured the leader of Ukraine during a July phone call, which is reportedly the subject of an intelligence community whistleblower complaint, to investigate his son Hunter’s ties to an energy company owned by one of the country’s oligarchs.
On Sunday, Trump denied putting any pressure on the Ukrainian president but confirmed that they had discussed Biden during the conversation, adding though that the “real story” is that Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees if Ukraine did not fire its top prosecutor, who had been investigating the oligarch who owned the company of which Biden’s son was a board member while he was still vice president.
Biden, however, has denied any wrongdoing on his part, calling instead for an investigation into Trump’s phone conversation and for the release of the transcript. He is currently leading the pack of Democrats vying for the Oval Office, despite Sen. Elizabeth Warren surpassing him for the first time in a key Iowa poll on Saturday.
