Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) on Saturday laughingly dismissed former Vice President Joe Biden's claim that he was the most progressive Democrat running for president.
Sanders appeared on MSNBC's PoliticsNation, where he was asked about Biden, his biggest Democratic primary competitor in some of the most recent polls. Host Al Sharpton noted Biden was leading in almost ever poll and asked Sanders how he distinguished himself from Biden.
"Well, I think you look at our records. I think if you look at our votes that we have cast , Joe has spent a long, long time in the Senate. I've been there for 13 years," Sanders said. "I was in the House before that and I think you look at what our vision is for the future of this country and I think if people take a hard look at my voting record, my vision, it's quite different than Joe Biden's is."
"But he says he's the most progressive guy in the race. You would concede that?" Sharpton asked, prompting Sanders to laugh. Back in March, Biden claimed at an event in Delaware that he had the "most progressive record" of anybody running for president.
"No, I don't think that Joe is the most progressive candidate in this race," Sanders said. "Look, I think if you look at my voting record, if you look at my vision, if you look at the fact that over the last four years, Al, the Democratic Party and much of America has moved in the direction that I talked about four years ago. You know, four years ago I said we've got to raise that minimum wage to a living wage. Fifteen bucks an hour. People said, 'Oh Bernie, you're crazy, it's too extreme.' Well, you've got seven states in the country that have already done that. The House of Representatives will soon do that."
Sanders also brought up the issues of Medicare for All, climate change, immigration, and education reform, noting his support for free tuition at public colleges and universities. During the same interview, Sanders pledged that he would not personally attack Biden, but would focus on differentiating their voting records on the campaign trail.