Biden says Sanders would have ‘great trouble’ helping Democrats keep House, win Senate

by Justine Coleman - 03/01/20 10:01 AM ET

Former Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) would have “great trouble” helping Democrats retain the House and win the Senate if he is the party’s is the nominee.

“You’re convinced that the Democrats will lose big in November if Bernie Sanders is the nominee?” host George Stephanopoulos asked Biden on ABC’s “This Week.”

{mosads}“I think he’ll have great trouble bringing along other senators, keeping the House of Representatives, winning back the Senate and down-ballot initiatives,” Biden said.

The former vice president also said voters face a “stark choice” between himself and Sanders.

“It’s not about whether we restore the soul of the Democratic Party,” Biden said. “It’s about restore the soul, uniting this country, the whole country, and I think I can do that.”

NEW: @GStephanopoulos: “You’re convinced that the Democrats will lose big in November if Bernie Sanders is the nominee?

Joe Biden: “He’ll have great trouble bringing along other senators, keeping the House of Representatives, winning back the Senate…” https://t.co/23kgGkwFyy pic.twitter.com/RPkrKTi4xD

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 1, 2020

Sanders, who also appeared on ABC’s “This Week” denied Biden’s arguments, calling them “absolutely untrue.”

“We’re gonna come together because we all understand that Donald Trump is the greatest threat to this country in the modern history of this country,” Sanders said.

“That’s absolutely untrue,” Bernie Sanders tells @GStephanopoulos when asked about Biden criticism that Sanders would be a “burden” for House and Senate candidates.

“We’re going to come together,” he adds, touting relationships with Pelosi and Schumer. https://t.co/wGwD0uWZ3e pic.twitter.com/zF7CidWjXH

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 1, 2020

Biden had struggled to keep up with Sanders who won contests in New Hampshire and Nevada and was the runner-up in Iowa.

With the former vice president’s win on Saturday in South Carolina, he now has 48 delegates, compared to Sanders’s 56. Ten South Carolina delegates have yet to be awarded.