President Donald Trump criticized his rival for the presidency, former Vice President Joe Biden, on Wednesday, asserting in an interview the Democrat challenger was “incompetent.”

“I believe the people of this country are smart and I don’t think that they will put a man in who’s incompetent,” Trump told Reuters reporter Steve Holland in an exclusive interview.

Biden is ahead of Trump in many recent polls, as the president continues to fight the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Biden had a 45 percent-39 percent edge over the president among voters in the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

But Trump remained focused on Biden’s record of failure throughout his political career.

“I don’t mean incompetent because of a condition that he’s got now,” he said. “I mean he’s incompetent for 30 years. Everything he ever did was bad. His foreign policy was a disaster.”

Trump commented after reports surfaced the president “erupted” at his campaign manager Brad Parscale in response to his polls dropping as the coronavirus crisis continued.

Trump denied the reports on Twitter.

“Just told that Fake News CNN is falsely reporting that I was recently shouting at my campaign manager over made-up nonsense,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Actually, he is doing a great job, I never shouted at him (been with me for years, including the 2016 win), & have no intention to do so. Just FAKE NEWS!”

The president’s political future lies on how quickly and how safely he can get Americans back to work after encouraging them to stay at home and remain socially distant for 45 days.

“We think we really have crossed a big boundary, and much better days are ahead,” Trump said at a White House event on Thursday. “And I often say I see the light at the end of the tunnel, very strongly.”