Former Vice President Joe Biden decried "naked nationalism and senseless populism" but steered away from singling out President Donald Trump by name during his speech Wednesday night in Madison.

One week after Biden drew widespread attention -- and a rebuttal tweet from Trump -- upon declaring he would have "beat the hell" out of Trump in high school, the ex-veep was more subtly critical in his remarks at Drew University.

Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at Drew University on March 28, 2018.

Biden said he intended not to comment on Trump during his first year as president, but changed his mind last August after Trump avoided blaming neo-Nazis and white nationalists for violence at a rally in Charlottesville, Va., in which a woman who showed up at a counter-demonstration was killed.

"Some national voices -- our most important voice, allegedly -- drawing a moral equivalency between those dark forces and those who protested their vile actions, quote, 'very fine people on both sides,'" Biden said in alluding to Trump's initial response.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our children are listening -- our children are listening -- and silence is complicity," Biden said, drawing applause from many in attendance.

Drew officials said the sold-out event drew up to 2,800 to the campus, including former Gov. Thomas Kean, the university's president from 1990 to 2005.

Rosalind Marks, a resident of Biden's hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, was sitting in the third row with her daughter. When asked, both she and Lois Marks said they would support Biden for president in 2020.

Biden, while responding to questions from Drew president MaryAnn Baenninger after his speech, said he is not planning to run but hasn't ruled out the possibility of changing his mind.

"The honest to God truth, folks, is, at this moment, no," Biden said, explaining that he and his family are still recovering from the death of his oldest son, Beau Biden, in 2015.

Biden, 75, sought the Democratic nomination for president in 1988 and 2008. He was vice president under President Obama, who left office in January 2017.

Former Gov. Tom Kean arriving for the speech by ex-Vice President Joe Biden at Drew University in Madison, March 28, 2018.

In his remarks at Drew, Biden outlined his vision for the U.S. while drawing a contrast with Trump.

"We are living through a battle for the soul of this nation," Biden said in taking issue -- again without naming Trump -- on efforts to undermine the nation's judiciary, independent news reporting and federal law enforcement.

Biden offered support for high school students who organized nationwide rallies against gun violence last Saturday.

"These young people are going to change the culture of how we look at violence in America," he said.

Biden also addressed the #MeToo movement, stating that he looks forward to a time "when not a single women who is abused asks herself, 'What did I do.'"

He did not bring up his March 20 visit to the University of Miami, during which Biden referenced Trump's remarks in 2005, caught on tape, in which the future president boasted that his celebrity status enabled him to grope women.

In a video of his remarks posted to Facebook by the University of Miami College Democrats, Biden said that if he was in high school with Trump he would "take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him."

Trump, who is 71, tweeted afterward that Biden "would go down hard and fast" if they were to fight.

Earlier Wednesday, Biden appeared on the "Pod Save America" podcast and expressed regret for what he said in Florida.

Biden lauded his hosts at Drew, at one point praising the university for cutting tuition by 20 percent.

In an apparent reference to two-year community colleges, Biden said, "I am one who believes there should be at least 15 years of free education and we can afford it."

"We have to understand what built the county, and that's an aspirational middle class -- which is getting crushed," Biden said.

He concluded with a directive to the supportive crowd.

"America owns the finish line, so get the hell up, and take it back, now."

Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RobJenningsNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.