Story highlights The former vice president said the deciding factor was the death of his son, Beau

Biden said he planned on running for president

Washington (CNN) Former Vice President Joe Biden believes he could have been elected president had he decided to run last year.

"The answer is that I had planned on running for president, and although it would've been a difficult primary, I think I could've won," Biden said Friday during a Q&A interview at Colgate University. "I don't know. Maybe not, but I thought I could've won."

The former vice president said the deciding factor was the death of his son, Beau, who passed away after battling brain cancer in May 2015. Biden said he "lost part of his soul" when Beau died, and called him the "finest young man" he had ever known in his life.

"I don't regret not running in the sense that it was the right decision for my boy, for me, for my family at the time," Biden said. "But do I regret not being president? Yes."

Biden said although he thought it would have been a difficult primary challenging Hillary Clinton, he said data showed he could have defeated President Donald Trump.

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