Kevin McCarthy: Joe Biden Is the ‘Jeb Bush’ of This Election

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) slammed former Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday as the “Jeb Bush of this cycle.”

“I think Biden — no disrespect — is the Jeb Bush of this cycle,” McCarthy said at an Axios event on Thursday morning. “I think he could have run at a different time, and he would have been the nominee. I think he has too much to apologize for.”

The Republican leader contended that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) “has a much better chance” of winning the Democrat nomination, noting that candidates need an energized base to sustain their campaigns. McCarthy said Sanders “has a bigger base for a longer duration of the time.”

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush entered the 2016 Republican presidential primary as the favorite but then failed to break through the primaries as Donald Trump labeled him “low energy Jeb.”

McCarthy’s comments arise as the former vice president said Tuesday that the “vast majority” of Americans remain satisfied with their current healthcare system.

Asked by one reporter where he stands on Medicare for All, Biden responded that he does not support the single-payer healthcare system because “the vast majority of people are satisfied with their own healthcare system today.”

Biden, however, did add that he endorsed “making a Medicare option available to all,” which some Democrats have floated as a more feasible alternative to single-payer health care. The former vice president said he wants to let Americans keep their own private insurance plans.