Former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday played up his proclivity toward progressive ideas when CNN host Chris Cuomo reminded him that he has expressed moderate ideas while the Democratic Party moves further to the left.
"An idea like that is a centrist idea," Cuomo said in response to an idea Biden floated about providing free college while reducing the deficit.
"You said before the Democrats have to think about how to get to the center and speak to the people that voted for President Trump. Your party is not moving to the center, Mr. Vice President," Cuomo said. "It's moving to the left."
Instead of arguing that he is countering that trend to be more centrist, Biden pushed back against Cuomo's characterization of his views.
"If you go back and look at my record of 36 years in the Senate, I was rated one of the most liberal senators in the United States Senate that 36-year period," said Biden, who has been floated as a potential 2020 presidential candidate. "I am the guy that spoke out on same-sex marriage and a whole range of other things."
"I take a back seat to no one on being progressive," Biden added. "I found no distinction between being able to be progressive and worrying about working-class people, middle-class people. They are not inconsistent."
Biden then told an anecdote about when he spoke at an Ohio factory about progressive priorities.
"All these blue-collar guys went nuts [in agreement]," Biden said.
"I mean, middle-class folks were decent, honorable, and the thing that we have to do is we have to start looking at them and acknowledging and treating them with dignity," Biden said.