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 told The New York Times in an interview published Tuesday that he was not sure he could have beaten Donald 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 had he ran for president in 2016.

“I don’t know,” he told the outlet in June.

“Everybody says that. But look, I don’t know. You’ve got to be in the game. I thought Hillary [Clinton] would have made a good president.”

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After his eight years as former President Obama's second-in-command, Biden had been floated as a potential candidate to represent the Democratic Party ahead of the 2016 election.

He ultimately decided not to run after his son Beau Biden died on May 30, 2015, of brain cancer.

Early on this election cycle, his son's death still weighed on Joe Biden's decision whether to purse the presidency.

“The family was fragile after Beau passing away," he told the Times in October, months before launching his campaign.

Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonFox News poll: Biden ahead of Trump in Nevada, Pennsylvania and Ohio Trump, Biden court Black business owners in final election sprint The power of incumbency: How Trump is using the Oval Office to win reelection MORE in 2016 by 304 to 227 Electoral College votes, although Clinton received more votes overall in the popular vote.

Biden is the current front-runner among 2020 Democratic contenders, but has seen his lead in polls slip in the last month after the first round of primary debates.