Former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenPelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Hillicon Valley: Subpoenas for Facebook, Google and Twitter on the cards | Wray rebuffs mail-in voting conspiracies | Reps. raise mass surveillance concerns Fox News poll: Biden ahead of Trump in Nevada, Pennsylvania and Ohio MORE said Monday that he’s committed to campaigning in the deep south and that if he’s the Democratic nominee he will defeat President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE in Texas, Georgia and South Carolina, among other traditionally red states.

Speaking Monday at the Poor People’s Moral Action Congress at Trinity Washington University, a predominantly black and Hispanic school on the northeast side of the city, Biden was asked if he would fight to win the support from poor whites, blacks and Latinos in the South.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I plan on campaigning in the South,” Biden said. “If I’m your nominee I’m winning Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, believe it or not, and I believe we can win Texas and Florida. Look at the polling there now … I have no intention of walking away.”

Democrats are bullish on their prospects in Texas after former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) nearly won Sen. Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward CruzThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Trump previews SCOTUS nominee as 'totally brilliant' Cruz blocks amended resolution honoring Ginsburg over language about her dying wish Trump argues full Supreme Court needed to settle potential election disputes MORE's (R) seat in 2018. New polls show Biden running neck and neck with Trump there.

Those public opinion surveys have Democrats eyeing an expanded path to the White House, although no Democratic presidential candidate has won in Georgia since 1992 and you have to go back to 1976 for the last time the party carried South Carolina.

Biden is one of 10 Democratic presidential contenders addressing the Poor People’s Moral Action Congress on Monday at Trinity Washington University.

Biden slammed Trump, saying the president had created an atmosphere in which different classes and races of people are seeking scapegoats for their personal struggles.

“We have to stop letting these guys use the divisions that exist in the country as charlatans always do to divide the country,” Biden said. “We have a guy in the White House who has turned that into an art form.”

Hundreds of activists from all 50 states gathered for the event inside the Trinity gymnasium, where they danced and sang spiritual hymnals and advocated for “a national call for moral revival” with a focus on closing the wealth gap between white people and racial minorities in the U.S.

Religious leaders here attacked the “systemic racism” they said had created an economic underclass of racial minorities and warned that the GOP’s “Christian nationalism” had exacerbated the divide.

“Our policies discriminate against and devalue black people, Native Americans, people of color, women and LGBTQ people,” Biden said.

The Poor People’s Campaign is led by the Rev. William Barber II, the black religious leader in Washington whose events have become a must-stop for the 2020 Democratic contenders. Barber started the “Moral Mondays” movement in North Carolina, which is credited with helping to elect a Democratic governor and cut into the GOP’s majority in the state Congress.

Polls show Biden, the Democratic front-runner who served as vice president under the first black president in history, with strong support among African Americans.

According to an Economist-YouGov poll released last week, 50 percent of black Democratic primary voters said they support Biden. Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersThe Hill's Campaign Report: Trump faces backlash after not committing to peaceful transition of power Bernie Sanders: 'This is an election between Donald Trump and democracy' The Hill's 12:30 Report: Trump stokes fears over November election outcome MORE (I-Vt.) was a distant second place at 10 percent support, followed by Sen. Kamala Harris Kamala HarrisHundreds of lawyers from nation's oldest African American sorority join effort to fight voter suppression Biden picks up endorsement from progressive climate group 350 Action 3 reasons why Biden is misreading the politics of court packing MORE (Calif.), who is of Indian and Jamaican descent, at 7 percent support.

On Monday, Biden said he’d eliminate loopholes for the wealthiest Americans and the GOP’s tax cuts to pay for new programs for the poor. Biden also said he’d cut the military budget and pull the U.S. out of costly foreign conflicts to pay for new initiatives, such as free community college and new child tax credits.

“We have all the money we need to do it,” Biden said.

The former vice president also addressed criticism over his claim that that if he’s elected president he will be able to find areas of agreement and compromise with the GOP-controlled Senate and majority leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTrump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline The Hill's Campaign Report: Trump faces backlash after not committing to peaceful transition of power MORE (R-Ky.).

Biden cast himself as a fighter but also said he’s the candidate who is best equipped to convince Republicans to compromise.

"There are certain things where it just takes a brass knuckle fight,” Biden said. “You have to go out and beat these folks if they don't agree with you. That's what presidents do. Persuade people if they don't agree … you beat them, you make an explicit case like we did for the House. I’d do the same for the Senate by making it clear to Republicans that on some things there’s a rationale for compromise.”