In an interview with The Washington Post, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) went after fellow 2020 contender Joe Biden—criticizing what he described as the former vice president's “weak” record and the amount of “baggage” he had. “It’s just a lot of baggage that Joe takes into a campaign, which isn’t going to create energy and excitement,” Sanders said. “He brings into this campaign a record which is so weak that it just cannot create the kind of excitement and energy that is going to be needed to defeat Donald Trump.” More specifically, Sanders said Biden's previous support of certain issues—like military deployments in Iraq and free trade—would be liabilities to him when trying to gain support from young voters and those in the Midwest. “It doesn’t take much imagination to understand that Trump will be saying, ‘You see this guy? He voted for NAFTA,’” the senator said. Sanders also said Biden was comfortable being close to the rich and powerful, which could make him unwilling to confront certain institutions. “People are tired of the traditional types of campaigns in which candidates like Joe are running to wealthy people’s homes and raising large sums of money,” he said.

When asked by reporters what he thought of Sanders' comments, Biden wished the senator the best of luck. “Good luck, Bernie. Lots of luck in your senior year, Bernie,” he said, according to NBC News. “That's what they used to say in the yearbooks, you know, lots of luck in your senior year.”