Former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenSenate Republicans face tough decision on replacing Ginsburg What Senate Republicans have said about election-year Supreme Court vacancies Biden says Ginsburg successor should be picked by candidate who wins on Nov. 3 MORE conceded in an interview broadcast on Sunday that he has “to do really well” in the South Carolina primaries after disappointing showings in Iowa and New Hampshire but said he does not necessarily have to win the state outright.

Asked by host Chuck Todd Charles (Chuck) David ToddSunday shows - Trump team defends coronavirus response Strzok: 'I continue to believe that Donald Trump is compromised by the Russians' GOP chair defends Trump messaging on masks: 'To say that he should have known then what we know now isn't really fair' MORE on NBC's "Meet the Press" whether it was necessary for him to win the state, the first Democratic primary contest with significant numbers of African American voters, Biden responded, “Well, I think I have to do really well in it.”

Pressed by Todd on whether it was possible to do well in the state without winning, Biden responded that on March 4, "we end up going into all the states, which the polling data is now showing me doing incredibly well, whether it's North Carolina or Georgia or Texas or any of these other places.”

“So look, it's not an apt comparison, but [former President] Bill Clinton William (Bill) Jefferson ClintonBarr says Ginsburg 'leaves a towering legacy' Trump reacts to Ginsburg's death: 'An amazing woman who led an amazing life' Jimmy Carter remembers Ruth Bader Ginsburg as 'a beacon of justice' MORE lost his first eight, 10, 12 primaries and caucuses before he won one. I don't plan on taking that long,” Biden continued. “But we're just getting to the meat of getting to the number of delegates you need to be able to win this election. And I'm confident we're going to be in good shape.”

“Is your goal to be the presumptive front-runner at the end of March?” Todd asked.

"Yes," Biden replied.

Biden finished fourth in the Iowa caucuses and fifth in New Hampshire. He has fallen behind Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersKenosha will be a good bellwether in 2020 Biden's fiscal program: What is the likely market impact? McConnell accuses Democrats of sowing division by 'downplaying progress' on election security MORE (I-Vt.) in several recent national polls.