Joe Biden claimed during Thursday’s primary debate that President Donald Trump has “ripped out” the soul of America in his first term in the White House.

The former vice president, who is the Democrat frontrunner, made the comments in his closing remarks at the Democrat presidential debate in Miami, Florida, on Thursday.

“I’m ready to lead this country because I think it’s important we restore the soul of this nation,” Biden said. “This president has ripped it out.”

Biden, who has been embroiled in controversy for praising the “civility” of segregationists in recent weeks, claimed Trump was the only president to equate “racists and white supremacists” with “decent people.”

“He’s the only president in our history that has equated racists and white supremacists with ordinary and decent people,” Biden said before proceeding to discuss the need for the next president to unite the country.

“We have to unite the United States of America as much as anybody says we can,” he said. “If we do, there is not a single thing the American people can’t do. This is the United States of America; we can do anything if we are together, together.”