Vice President Pence hammered former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Democratic groups using Bloomberg money to launch M in Spanish language ads in Florida Harris faces pivotal moment with Supreme Court battle MORE and other leading 2020 Democratic presidential contenders as “advocating a socialist agenda.”

“I think the choice that we face in the country today is a choice between freedom and socialism, increasingly. President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE has been advocating an agenda that’s built on the principles of freedom in the marketplaces, lower taxes, less regulation, more access to energy, better, fair trade deals,” Pence told CNBC on Friday.

ADVERTISEMENT

“But increasingly, whether it be Joe Biden, whether it be Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersOutrage erupts over Breonna Taylor grand jury ruling Dimon: Wealth tax 'almost impossible to do' Grand jury charges no officers in Breonna Taylor death MORE, whether it be Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth WarrenDimon: Wealth tax 'almost impossible to do' CNN's Don Lemon: 'Blow up the entire system' remark taken out of context Democrats shoot down talk of expanding Supreme Court MORE and others in their party, they’re advocating a socialist agenda of more government, higher taxes and the same tired policies that created the malaise of the last administration where you saw less than 2 percent economic growth,” Pence said.

Biden, who entered the race for the Democratic nomination last week, is widely seen as a centrist in a field dominated by progressives.

Since launching his campaign, Biden has hammered Trump on the campaign trail, attacking the GOP’s 2017 tax cut plan, which he says mainly benefits the wealthy.

The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill regarding Pence’s remarks.

The former vice president is seen by conservatives as one of the stronger threats to the president among the more than 20 Democratic contenders as he angles his appeal toward wooing working class voters in the Rust Belt who historically voted Democratic but supported Trump in 2016.

Trump and other Republicans have sought to attack Democrats as "socialists," attacking proposals from the progressive wing such as "Medicare for All" and the Green New Deal.

“I want you, everybody in this room and your friends and your neighbors, I want you to put socialism on trial. That’s what I’m asking you to do,” White House adviser Larry Kudlow Larry KudlowMORE said in February. “I don’t want us to stand idly by. I don’t want to let this stuff fester, I want it challenged, I want it debated, I want it rebutted, and I want to convict socialism.”