Joseph R. Biden says he doesn’t need his former boss’s endorsement.

In an interview Monday with Politico, the former vice president said having had that post under President Barack Obama is as much help as he needs.

“No, because everyone knows I’m close with him,” he said. “I don’t need an Obama endorsement.”

He reiterated to Politico his previous claims that he has asked Mr. Obama not to endorse him and said that this stance would not change as the Democratic presidential-primary field narrows and an Obama endorsement could become a game-clincher.

Mr. Biden also said he wasn’t overly put out by a previous Politico report that Mr. Obama had said to others that his former No. 2 “really doesn’t have it” on connecting with voters.

“He may have said that. And if it’s true, and he said it, there’s truth to it,” Mr. Biden acknowledged before saying that it’s not fair to judge this campaign by his involvement in previous ones.

He has “mostly campaigned for other people in the time I’ve been here. And I’ve never been in a position seeking the nomination where I have had the money and the organization to be able to get open headquarters all over the state,” he said.