Vice President Joe Biden is known for making headlines when he speaks — often for the wrong reasons — and this time was no different.

Biden took a clear shot at Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and praised the idealism of Sen. Bernie Sanders. “I don’t think any Democrat’s ever won saying, ‘We can’t think that big — we ought to really downsize here because it’s not realistic,” Biden said in a recent interview with The New York Times. “C’mon, man, this is the Democratic Party! I’m not part of the party that says, ‘Well, we can’t do it.'”

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Clinton recently said that Sanders’ policy proposals aren’t pragmatic and that he should “do his homework.” “It is absolutely fair and necessary for Americans to vet both of our proposals, to ask the really hard questions about what is it we think we can accomplish why do we believe that and what would be the results for the average American family,” Clinton said in a debate with Sanders.

Her objective has been to make herself appear pragmatic and cast Sanders as a pie-in-the-sky candidate with policy proposals that would never actually come to fruition.

Clinton, despite being locked in a heated primary with Sanders, is still more focused on the general election, knowing that a pragmatic approach to the issues will make her a more favorable candidate in the eyes of the American voters come November. If she takes more progressive positions — like Sanders — she would have a more difficult time pivoting to more moderate stances in the general election. But, as Sanders has warned her, “she’s not in the White House yet.”

[lz_table title=”Biden’s Favorables” source=”Gallup Sep./Oct. 2015″]Joe Biden
Favorable,49%
Unfavorable,37%
|Hillary Clinton
Favorable,41%
Unfavorable,51%
|Bernie Sanders
Favorable,32%
Unfavorable,29%
[/lz_table]

Let’s remember that Biden contemplated, for a long while, jumping into the 2016 race, which would’ve certainly given Clinton a run for her money due to his high popularity. But now he has the luxury of staying on the sidelines and subtly advocating for Sanders since the White House hasn’t endorsed a candidate.

Biden knew that if he ran, most of his support would be siphoned from Clinton. He would be the candidate poised to further the legacy of Barack Obama, something that Clinton has hitched her wagon to as former secretary of state. The mere speculation of a Biden run was enough to worry Clinton and her supporters last summer and early fall. Biden still maintains that he would’ve been a formidable candidate in the presidential race.

“If you notice, I beat every Republican in every poll when they thought I was running,” Biden said. “You notice that my favorability was higher than anybody that’s running for office in either party.”