Former Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday dismissed former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, his opponent in the Democratic presidential primary, as “a good guy” and “a smart guy,” but as merely the mayor of a small city.
“So what has he done?” Biden asked on ABC’s “This Week.”
“Who has he pulled together? Does he know any of the foreign leaders? I mean, Barack Obama was a different story,” he added.
The attack on Buttigieg’s experience echoes a theme Biden has been stressing in recent days. On Saturday, Biden told voters in New Hampshire that Buttigieg is “not Barack Obama” and the former vice president released a blistering ad comparing his own experience to the former mayor’s.
{mosads}Buttigieg has hit back, saying the party needs a fresh face with a new perspective.
“Let’s get something straight here. I didn’t attack Pete. Pete’s been attacking me,” Biden said Sunday. “He’s been saying the reason we’re in the problem we’re in now is because of the recent past. That’s eight years of Obama and me. I don’t get that.”
Biden added, “I think he has completely misunderstood or misrepresented my record. I’ve done a great deal. I’ve gotten a lot done both as a senator and vice president.”
Biden also described key accomplishments, including bailing out Detroit, managing Obama’s recovery act, helping pass a chemical weapons treaty and working on the Paris climate accord.
“So I don’t understand how those things don’t matter,” he said. “And I don’t understand when they talk about the past why Barack was such a lousy president. I thought he was a pretty damn good president.”
Host George Stephanopoulos then cited the recent ad from Biden to ask if he thought Buttigieg “has a race problem.”
“No, I’m saying he hasn’t been able to unify the black community, that’s what I’m saying,” Biden said. “In order to win Georgia, you’re going to have to be able to win states like Pennsylvania, you’re going to have to win Florida, you’re going to have to win a lot of places that have very diverse populations, so the assertion that he’s ready across the board, I don’t see it.”
Appearing after Biden on “This Week,” Buttigieg responded to Biden’s assertions.
“I know, especially heading into the South, I’m now getting a second look from a lot of voters who frankly weren’t sure we were competitive in the first place,” he said.
“He’s right, I’m not Barack Obama, and neither is he,” Buttigieg also told Stephanopoulos. “Neither is anyone running for president right now. And this isn’t 2008, it’s 2020.”