Former Vice President Joe Biden mused about the potential for a future White House run and reflected on the 2016 race during an appearance at the SALT conference in Las Vegas on Thursday.

Speaking about Hillary Clinton's surprise November defeat to Donald Trump, Biden said, "I never thought she was a great candidate. I thought I was a great candidate."

It was an unexpected admission from Biden whose party brought out an all-star roster to rally support for Clinton in the final days of a brutal campaign last year. Clinton's bid for the White House has been criticized for its heavy focus on casting Trump as unfit for office, rather than making strong arguments for her candidacy.

Clinton was also stymied by a protracted FBI investigation into her use of a private email server, which gave Trump and his supporters easy rhetorical ammunition, right up to Election Day. For her part, Clinton has blamed former FBI director James Comey, among others, for her defeat.

RELATED: People who might run against Trump in 2020



45 PHOTOS People who might run against Trump in 2020 See Gallery People who might run against Trump in 2020 Former Vice President Joe Biden (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images) Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) (Photo by Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) Sen. Kamala Davis (D-Calif.) (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call) Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) (Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images) Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg (Photo by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) (Photo by Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic) Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (D) (Photo by: REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes) Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) (Photo by: Lloyd Bishop/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call) New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (Photo credit MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images) Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (Photo credit NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images) Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro (Photo by Pete Marovich/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) (Photo by Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) (Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images) Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) (Photo credit ZACH GIBSON/AFP/Getty Images) Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (Photo by Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (Photo by James Keivom/NY Daily News via Getty Images) Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban (Photo by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Environmental activist Tom Steyer (Photo by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez (Photo by Taylor Hill/FilmMagic) Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (Photo by Yichuan Cao/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (Photo credit FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images) Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz (Photo credit should read JASON REDMOND/AFP/Getty Images) Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (Photo by Donna Ward/Getty Images) Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) (Photo credit TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images) Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y) (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) California Gov. Jerry Brown (Photo by Tiffany Rose/Getty Images for Caruso ) Media mogul Oprah Winfrey (Photo by Moeletsi Mabe/Sunday Times/Gallo Images/Getty Images) Former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Former Vice President Al Gore (Photo credit DAVID MCNEW/AFP/Getty Images) Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) (Photo by Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images) Former Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) (Photo by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images,) Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) (Photo by Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu Albin Lohr-Jones/Pool via Bloomberg Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (Photo by Karen Ducey/Getty Images) Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Michael Bloomberg (Christopher Smith/Invision/AP) Up Next See Gallery Discover More Like This HIDE CAPTION SHOW CAPTION of SEE ALL BACK TO SLIDE

Despite that, Biden conceded in his remarks Thursday that "Hillary would have been a good president."

The former vice president offered commentary on President Barack Obama's two terms in office that also appeared to serve as an undercover critique of the current administration. Biden noted that Obama served eight years in office "without a single scandal ... not one." The audience erupted in applause.

Biden called Obama "absolutely, totally competent" and said he took his job "extremely seriously," but acknowledged that the former president had made some mistakes.

Biden, who was seen as a strong potential opponent to Trump in 2016, said of a possible 2020 run: "Could I? Yes. Would I? Probably not."

NOW WATCH: 'OJ had me shook': A Georgetown professor reveals what it was like to talk to OJ Simpson after bashing him on national television

More from Business Insider:

SEE ALSO: There's a chance the House might have to vote again on the GOP healthcare bill because of a procedural mistake