Biden Says McCain Would’ve Won 2008 If Not For Economic Collapse, Senator Responds On Meet The Press

During a forum event in Sedona, Ariz., on Friday, Vice President Joe Biden told Senator John McCain (R-AZ) that had it not been for the economic downturn five years ago, the 2008 McCain/Palin ticket would have won the election, or at least gave the Obama team a harder run for its money.

“The truth of the matter is, Barack knows it, I know, had the economy not collapsed around your ears, John, in the middle of literally — as things were moving — I think you probably would have won,” Biden told the senator. “But it would have been incredibly, incredibly, incredibly close. You inherited a really difficult time.”

On Sunday’s Meet the Press, host David Gregory asked McCain if he agrees with that assessment. “Is that how you see it?” he asked.

“No,” he bluntly replied. “I think it would have been a much closer race, but I’ll tell you President Obama ran a great race and that campaigns matter. I appreciate the fact that my dear friend would say something like that, but I doubt if the outcome would’ve been a lot different but I can always hope it might’ve been.”

Watch below, via NBC:

[photo via AP/Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic]

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