A week after comments that were construed as critical of Hillary Clinton, his former White House colleague, Vice President Joe Biden may have inadvertently waded back into the Democratic presidential primary, declaring that the U.S. doesn’t need “socialism” — Sen. Bernie Sanders’ political calling card.

"We need — not just in my country, but in other countries — a more progressive tax code. Not confiscatory policy, not socialism, a tax code," Biden said, in a speech about economic fairness and boosting the middle class at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "Everybody pays proportionally a fair share. This is not meant to penalize everybody."



The vice president’s team also highlighted the quote on Twitter during the speech.

It’s not clear if Biden meant to criticize Sanders, the Vermont senator and unabashed Democratic Socialist whose insurgent presidential campaign has captured the imagination of progressives — and is gaining on Clinton, the party’s front-runner.

But seen through the lens of recent history — he favorably compared Sanders to Clinton on the candidates’ authenticity on issues of wealth disparity — the comment looks like Biden’s attempt to balance the scales.

“I think that Bernie is speaking to a yearning that is deep and real, and he has credibility on it,” Biden told CNN. “It’s relatively new for Hillary to talk about that. Hillary’s focus has been other things up to now. No one questions Bernie’s authenticity on those issues.”

The vice president, who also said he regretted his decision not to jump into the race, was criticized for his comments, and later backtracked.

