While Vice President Joe Biden has not officially announced whether he will enter the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, he did give a crowd a bit of a shock when he offered words of praise for Bernie Sanders’ campaign.

“I’m not a populist. But Bernie Sanders, he’s doing a helluva job,” said Biden, adding “that Bernie Sanders was doing a great job exciting his crowds.”

The room was filled with Hillary Clinton donors, so the comment came as a shock to the room, according to Politico.

“What the hell was he saying? I mean, 90 percent of the room is a Hillary donor,” a person present told Politico.

The gap between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton has been narrowing in the polls lately. New polls show that Bernie has Hillary within striking distance at a single-digit gap.

Watch Thom Hartman discussing this issue:

Watch our commentary on Biden and Clinton in 2016: