“I do think that Trump is going to be harder to beat than many Democrats like to believe,” Rep. Seth Moulton said. | John Locher/AP Photo 2020 Elections Seth Moulton says Dems can’t keep ‘rehashing votes from 40 years ago’

Rep. Seth Moulton offered an indirect defense of Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential front-runner endures continued criticism from primary rivals for his decades-old policy positions and cautioned that President Donald Trump’s reelection bid will be more difficult to quash than some in his party predict.

“I do think that Trump is going to be harder to beat than many Democrats like to believe,” Moulton, who is also competing for the 2020 Democratic nomination, told ABC’s “This Week” in an interview that aired Sunday.


“And if we spend all our time rehashing votes from 40 years ago in Congress, rather than putting forward a positive vision for America, with realistic plans for how we can achieve all of our goals, then I think it's going to be real tough election for us,” the Massachusettsan said.

Biden’s lead in the polls has diminished since he came under attack from California Sen. Kamala Harris in the first Democratic presidential primary debate for his stance on federally ordered busing in the 1970s, as well as his recent remarks about working with segregationist lawmakers while serving in the U.S. Senate.

But during a speech Saturday in South Carolina, the former vice president apologized for those comments and pushed back against other White House contenders he claimed were selectively excoriating his long record on race.

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“If you look at the issues I’ve been attacked on, nearly every one of them is for something well before 2008. It’s as if my opponents want you to believe I served from 1972 until 2008 — and then took the next eight years off," Biden said, referring to his subsequent eight years as Barack Obama’s vice president.

Delaware Sen. Chris Coons defended Biden on Sunday. “His lifelong record of standing up and fighting for civil rights is what he should be judged on,” said Coons, a Biden backer, on NBC's “Meet the Press.”

Moulton did not qualify for the first Democratic debate two weeks ago in Miami and is unlikely to appear on stage during the next forum later this month in Detroit. Despite barely registering in national surveys among the crowded field of two dozen candidates, Moulton insisted he plans to remain in the race.

“People are excited to hear a different perspective and a different view of how we can build the coalition that we need to beat Donald Trump and bring the country together to actually accomplish the things that we'd like to do — not just in 2020 with winning, but in 2021 with leading the country,” Moulton said, adding: “I've been in tough fights before, so I'm going to keep going.”

