Vice President Mike Pence said Friday that Joe Biden, his predecessor who is running for president in 2020, is "advocating a socialist agenda" along with other Democratic candidates vying to take on President Donald Trump.
In an interview with CNBC's Eamon Javers, Pence took multiple shots at Biden, a clear frontrunner on the roster of more than 20 candidates, while contrasting Democrats' supposed goals with Trump's legislative agenda.
"I think the choice that we face in this country today is a choice between freedom and socialism," Pence told CNBC in his office Friday morning. The vice president touted Trump as an advocate for policies including lower taxes and regulations and "better fair trade deals."
But Biden, along with self-described democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are "advocating a socialist agenda of more government, higher taxes and the same tired policies that created the malaise of the last administration where we saw less than 2% economic growth," Pence said. The U.S. economy in fact saw annual growth near 3% at the peak of Obama's presidency — or above 3% depending on the metric used.
Lumping the former vice president in with some of the most progressive voices in the race under the umbrella of socialism may be intended to harden moderate Republicans against him, as well as stoke additional infighting within the Democratic field, where the candidates are jockeying to lock down different voter bases.
Biden's campaign did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment. A spokeswoman for Pence had no additional comment beyond the vice president's on-air remarks.
Pence's remarks cut directly against Biden's campaign rhetoric, in which he frames himself as a unifier and a more moderate choice among the pack of 2020 candidates. Despite Biden's frequent attacks on Trump's character and policies, he is poised to deliver a speech in Philadelphia in mid-May addressing how to bring the politically polarized country together.
Pence also criticized Biden in the CNBC interview for his recent comments downplaying China's economic threat to the U.S.
"China is going to eat our lunch? Come on, man," Biden said at a campaign stop in Iowa on Wednesday.
The Trump administration has been locked in what it suggests are the final stages of negotiations with China on reshaping the trade relationship between the two economic powerhouses. Pence told CNBC that the "negotiations are ongoing" when asked about recent reports that a deal may be coming as early as next week. "I think President Trump remains very hopeful," he added.
"While we hear one of the latest candidates for president ... say that China doesn't represent a competition of the United States, you know they're half of our international trade deficit," Pence said. "And forced technology transfers and intellectual property theft are a reality."
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