So, I asked Biden on that call what he would say to Democrats and others who are afraid he doesn’t see the punch in the mouth coming or that he won’t have the will to use all the power available to him to get his agenda through Congress. Biden pushed back — forcefully, as if I was the one who punched him in the mouth.

“Well, let me tell you something. You guys have been saying that about me since the day I ever got into office. You said that when I announced, that I was a nice enough guy but didn’t get it, didn’t know what was going on,” Biden said. “I respectfully suggest that I beat the hell out of everybody else. I won the nomination, got everybody to come around and won by over seven million votes. So I think I know what I’m doing and I’ve been pretty damn good at being able to deal with the punchers. I know how to block a straight left and do a right hook. I understand it.”

“I haven’t changed how I approach politics since I got involved. And part of it is just establishing with your opponents that if they want to play, I’m ready to fight. I’m ready to fight,” Biden noted. “But one of the things that happens is when you get into one of those kind of blood matches … nothing gets done, nothing gets done.”