WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Joe Biden acknowledged Thursday that “one of my problems, if I ever run for president, is that I like Republicans.”

“Bless me, Father, if I have sinned,” Biden added to laughs, as he spoke before the US Conference of Mayors’ winter meeting in Washington.

The former veep said he didn’t know how he could get anything done in Washington if he didn’t have friends across the aisle.

“Where I come from, I don’t know how you get anything done. I don’t know how you get anything done until you start talking to one another,” Biden said.

He also used the speech to defend positive statements he made about Rep. Fred Upton, a Republican from Michigan, whom he praised at a speech to the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan.

He was paid $200,000 to deliver the speech and it came three weeks before the 2018 midterm elections, in which Upton faced a tough re-election race. Biden called Upton “one of the finest guys I’ve ever worked with” during his remarks, according to the New York Times.

On Thursday, Biden pointed to the Times report and explained that he had praised Upton “about the fight against cancer,” as the Michigan Republican was among those who supported the 21st Century Cures Act, which gave $8.5 billion to the National Institutes of Health to bolster cancer research.

“And it mattered,” Biden said. “It saved lives. And he stepped up, he and three other Republicans stepped up and helped us pass it. And so I acknowledged that and now I’m — I don’t know what I am,” he said, seemingly miffed by the criticism. “Anyway,” he said, continuing on with his speech.

While Biden has yet to announce whether he’ll jump into the already crowded Democratic primary, he preached a positive message of Americans working together.

He also made global warming a front-and-center issue.

“My plea is, hang in there — we need you,” he told the audience, consisting of the country’s mayors, including other 2020 hopefuls. “I’m telling you help is on the way.”