Former Secretary of State John Kerry campaigned Saturday for Joe Biden in North Liberty, Iowa, defending him against critics who said he was too old to run for president.

“I’ve got news for you, Nancy Pelosi is 79,” Kerry said defending Biden, who is currently 77 years old. “And so when I hear people talking about age, I’m over 70, I got news for you folks. Seventy is the new 50!”

Kerry cited Pelosi as a Democrat who could still accomplish a great deal, despite her age.

“Would any one of you here not have wanted Nancy Pelosi at the helm of the course of the last weeks?” Kerry said. “She’s done an amazing job.”

Kerry described Biden as the “most qualified person to govern this nation” that could lead the country on day one.

The failed presidential candidate recalled winning the state in the 2004 Democrat primary, urging caucusgoers to support Biden.

“I thank you profusely for sending me on my way, I’m not even going to mention the number of years ago, I just want your guarantee that you’ll do the same for Joe Biden,” Kerry said.

Kerry endorsed Biden as a close friend, noting they had worked together throughout the years in the Senate and in former President Barack Obama’s administration.

“The only team that’s worked closer than us is Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin,” he joked.

Kerry noted Biden would restore the Paris climate change agreement and the Iran nuclear deal, and make the world a better safer place.

He praised Biden as a man of character and was sharply critical of Trump.

“Does anyone here believe there’s an ounce of empathy in Donald Trump?” Kerry asked. “He goes down to Puerto Rico and he lobs paper towels at people, no hugs, I didn’t see any expressions.”

He claimed Biden “never had no whiff of scandal” while he served as vice president for former President Barack Obama, defending the former vice president’s role in Ukraine while his son Hunter Biden was profiting from the corrupt Ukranian gas company Burisma. Kerry compared the attacks on Biden to the attacks on his own military service in Vietnam when he ran for president in 2004.

Kerry said:

Why now suddenly do you starting to hear this stuff? Well, why suddenly after all my years did you hear my military record being attacked because that’s the republican strategy, they’re swiftboating him, they’re going after him and I’m asking Iowa to make certain that never again will we allow a candidate for president to be slimed and smeared by people that don’t even know what the truth is.

Kerry expressed confidence Biden was the perfect candidate to beat Trump in 2020.

“He’s going to slice him and dice him,” Kerry said, concluding his speech. “He’s going to whack him and smack him. He’s going to mush him and crush him. He is going to beat him like a drum until this nightmare is done.”