Bernie Sanders is Joe Biden’s great friend, but… Photo: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

You could look at a calendar and tell that the Iowa caucuses are a month away, or you could just listen to Bernie Sanders, who has stepped up his criticism of front-runner Joe Biden as the first votes in the Democratic primary draw near.

On Monday, Sanders made his case against Biden on CNN, hitting the former vice-president for helping “lead the effort for the war in Iraq,” and supporting NAFTA, among other things. Biden’s record, the Vermont senator said, won’t inspire young people and working people. It will also allow President Trump to attack him in some of the Rust Belt states Democrats are trying to claw back from the GOP. Sanders’s conclusion? Biden won’t be able to “bring forth the energy we need to beat Trump.”

Those who weren’t watching Anderson Cooper 360 could catch the clip on any of Sanders’s social media channels.

Joe Biden helped lead the effort for the war in Iraq.



He voted for trade deals that cost us millions of jobs.



He pushed a bankruptcy bill that has been disastrous for working families.



That is not the kind of record that will bring forth the energy we need to defeat Trump. pic.twitter.com/6LTlYrsK5Z — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 7, 2020

This isn’t a new argument from Sanders. In recent days, he has stepped up his critique of Biden’s perceived electability. Last week, Sanders told the Washington Post that Biden has a “lot of baggage.”

“He brings into this campaign a record which is so weak that it just cannot create the kind of excitement and energy that is going to be needed to defeat Donald Trump,” Sanders said. A new CBS News/YouGov poll released over the weekend provides some evidence to back that up. While Biden is viewed by voters as the “safest” bet to beat Trump, he also has the least enthusiastic supporters among the top four candidates in the race.