Biden predicts he probably won't win in New Hampshire

Former Vice President Joe Biden kicked off Friday's New Hampshire debate with a prediction: he's not going to win the primary.

Biden spoke at the top of the debate about his disappointing fourth place finish in Monday's Iowa caucuses, admitting he "took a hit." But the former vice president took things a step further, appearing to set expectations as low as possible ahead of the Tuesday New Hampshire primary by suggesting he'll lose again.

"I took a hit in Iowa, and I'll probably take a hit here," Biden said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

It was certainly a unique start to the event, as The Washington Post's Dave Weigel observed, "That has to be the first time that a debate began with a candidate saying he'd probably lose the state's primary."

As far as who will win, Biden suggested Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will likely beat him, citing the fact that "Bernie won by 20 points last time, and usually it's the neighboring senators that do well." But the good news for Biden, according to Biden? "This is a long race." Brendan Morrow