Here's What Drove Joe Biden To Straight Up Call Trump "A Joke"

During a Tuesday interview with CNN, former Vice President Joe Biden called President Trump "a joke" and said that his presidency is "a disaster." He also suggested that Trump would be unwise to sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller, because he "has some difficulty with precision" and could accidentally end up lying without intending to.

"If I were the president's lawyer, I'd probably tell him not to sit down with the special counsel," Biden told Chris Cuomo. "You're in a situation where the president has some difficulty with precision. And one of the things that I would worry about, if I were his lawyer, is him saying something that was simply untrue without him even planning to be disingenuous."

Although Trump has publicly said that he would gladly be interviewed by Mueller, the New York Times reported that the president's lawyers are advising him against this out of fear that he will lie to federal prosecutors.

When Biden was asked if he was truly asserting that Trump lacks the self-control needed to prevent himself from lying, the former vice president dodged.

"I just marvel at some of the things he says and does," Biden said. He then referenced Trump's recent, extraordinary claim that Democrats who didn't clap for him at the State of the Union were "treasonous." Cuomo replied that the White House called the comments "tongue-in-cheek" and characterized them as a joke.

"Well, let me you. He's a joke," Biden said. When Cuomo asked if he was really calling Trump a joke, Biden responded, "yeah, in this kind of stuff."

"I think he understands and I think the people around him understand, what presidents say matter," Biden said. "Our children are listening, and the world is listening."

Biden, who is considering a 2020 run for president, also addressed Trump's recent condemnation of the FBI, and said that, by casting doubt on longstanding American institutions like the FBI and the Justice Department, the president is effectively doing Russian President Vladimir Putin's bidding.

"This is the first president to make a full-throated, unvarnished attack on the entirety of the FBI," Biden said. "You know, look, I spend a lot of time traveling around the world. What do you think they're thinking in Moscow? This is doing everything that Putin ever wanted: Sewing doubt about whether or not our justice system is fair."

Biden is frequently mentioned as a possible 2020 Democratic candidate for president. He's addressed this possibility many times since Trump's surprise election in 2016, often in contradictory and confusing terms that, in effect, make his 2020 plans a mystery.

Less than one month after election day, Biden flatly stated that "I'm going to run in 2020," prompting reporters to ask what office he'd be running for.

"For president," Biden said, according to CNN. "What the hell, man?"

The following May, however, he abruptly changed course, announcing to a group of New Hampshire Democrats that "I'm not running."

Two weeks after that, Biden issued a clarification that was anything but clear, explaining during a hedge fund conference that, while he's "probably not" going run for president, he "may very well do it" anyway. In December, Biden told Variety that he's "decided I’m not going to decide not to run," but that he hasn't "decided to run" either. In November, Politico reported that Biden's feelings on a 2020 campaign had recently shifted "unmistakably in favor of running," although Biden didn't confirm or deny that.

In his interview with Cuomo, Biden was sure enough again asked about his 2020 plans. He didn't give an answer, saying only that he's focused on helping Democrats win back Congress in 2018 so they can stop Trump "and begin to right this ship."