Former Vice President Joe Biden's senior campaign adviser Symone Sanders told "The Story with Martha MacCallum" Friday that the Democratic presidential candidate is ready to let everyone know during the New Hampshire debate that he is "battle tested" and the most capable Democrat to beat President Trump after a lackluster performance in the Iowa caucuses.
"We took some lumps in Iowa, yes. But this is not the first time Vice President Biden has had to fight. It's not the first time he's been knocked down," Sanders said Friday. "I mean, he's used to fighting for the things that he wants. So tonight on the debate stage, you can expect Vice President Biden to draw a contrast between himself and the other candidates on the stage when it comes to health care, when it comes to experience, when it comes to who's ready to lead on day one."
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Sanders said it's time for voters to "get real" about the current Democratic field in response to President Trump's State of the Union address, calling the president "hard to beat."
"We think voters need to get real about this election. If anybody watched the State of the Union the other night, there are two things that came out of that," Sanders warned. "One, Donald Trump is going to be really hard to beat, actually. But also, number two, we've got to beat Donald Trump."
"So we can't take a risk in this election by nominating folks who are not battle-tested," Sanders added, clearly jabbing former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
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Sanders said Biden will be pushing that message Friday during the ABC News Democratic debate pointing out to MacCallum that "Joe Biden is here to stay."
"You saw him [Wednesday] morning, very fiery and forceful, talking about the need to fight, talking about the contrast between himself and the other candidates," Sanders said. "But you also saw him that evening at a town hall for another network where you saw the empathy for Joe Biden that connects with people."