Vice President Biden’s comments about Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) stole the show at a Wednesday fundraising event in which Biden skipped talk of his own presidential plans.
{mosads}”I’m not a populist like Bernie,” Biden told a group of donors in Miami, according to an attendee who spoke to a pool reporter. The vice president added that Sanders “was doing a great job exciting his crowds,” the person said.
Biden’s comments came during a Florida trip that fueled speculation about whether he will challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The vice president made his remark about Sanders, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, at a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraiser, stressing the importance of getting engaged to ensure Democrats take back control of the Senate in 2016.
Biden was reportedly not asked about his 2016 plans and therefore did not address them. The vice president spent more than two hours at the high-dollar fundraiser with 40 donors and took one question about the Iran nuclear deal.
“I know it’s hard to believe,” the attendee said. “He discussed the Iran issue at some length and then he had to leave.”
Biden’s comment about Sanders came in front of a crowd that was filled with Clinton supporters. The event’s host, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), is backing the former secretary of State’s presidential campaign.
“You can love Joe and you can love Hillary at the same time,” the person in the audience said. “And I think there were a lot of people in the room that felt that way.”