President Donald Trump panned former Vice President Joe Biden as a top candidate for his party's presidential nomination and said he "doesn't have what it takes" to win the presidential race ― not that he thinks very many of the other 23 contenders will have a chance to take the nomination.
"Everybody knows that Joe Biden does not have what it takes," the president told Fox News' "Fox and Friends," adding that what he means by that is "a lot of different things," including his "mental capacity."
"He never did have what it takes," Trump said. "He ran two or three times. I used to call him 1% Joe because he never got more than 1%, then (Barack) Obama came along."
He did rank Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as two other candidates that he can see himself running against, even if he did disparage both of them as well.
"I see that 'Pocahontas' is doing better," said Trump, using the nickname he gave Warren some time ago. "I would love to run against her. I see that Bernie Sanders is not doing well at all. I would have frankly run against him."
But Trump said he doesn't see others in the general election, specifying Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. As one he doesn't see and downplaying South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg's chances of being "a joke."
He added that by the polls he sees, his campaign is doing well in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, he demurred when asked if he'd automatically endorse Vice President Mike Pence if he runs for the White House in 2024.
"I love Mike, we are running again," said Trump. "You're talking about a long time, so you can't put me in that position, but I certainly would give it very strong consideration. He's a very, very outstanding person."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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