President Donald Trump's attacks on the Federal Reserve and its chairman, Jerome Powell, are an abuse of power and represent a "big mistake" for the administration, 2020 Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden said in an interview with CNBC.

"I'm not going to get into the personalities, but I do say this: The president should not be trying to pressure the Fed," Biden said in the interview with John Harwood. "That's supposed to be an independent entity out here. It's just like how he pressures the military and intervenes in the chain of command."

"It's his way of abusing power across the board. It's a big mistake. A big mistake, and I would not do that," the former vice president added.

Powell has stressed the importance of the Fed's independence from political influence throughout his tenure, almost always in response to the president's criticisms.

Though other presidents have tried to coerce the Fed into accommodative monetary policy in the past, prior criticism by presidents has been less personal and less frequent. Trump has been outspoken in his criticism of the Fed for nearly two years.