Joe Biden joked that he would challenge Trump to do push-ups if the president made fun of his age on a debate stage

AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty

Joe Biden

• Former Vice President Joe Biden joked that he would challenge President Donald Trump to do push-ups on stage if Trump mocked Biden's age during a general election debate.
• "I would say come on Donald, come on, man. How many push-ups do you want to do here, pal? Jokingly. You know, come on, run with me, man," Biden said in an interview with "Morning Joe" that aired Tuesday.
• "I won't get down in the dirt with him. That's the only place he knows how to fight. I'll continue to talk about what he's doing. Why it's so damaging to America. And as my mother would say I won't take any guff from him," Biden added.
• Trump has frequently mocked Biden far more than any of the other Democratic contenders, nicknaming him "Sleepy Joe" and calling him "a dummy," "mentally weak," and "1% Joe."
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Former Vice President and 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden joked that he would challenge President Donald Trump to do push-ups on stage if Trump mocked Biden's age during a general election debate in a Tuesday interview.

While many Democratic candidates have shied away from directly attacking the president, Biden - the current Democratic frontrunner - has framed his entire campaign around targeting and defeating Trump.

For his part, Trump has singled out Biden far more than any of the other Democratic contenders, nicknaming him "Sleepy Joe" and calling him "a dummy," "mentally weak," and "1% Joe" - an insulting reference to Biden's past performances in the 1988 and 2008 Democratic primaries.

Trump said of Biden: "he looks different than he used to, he acts different than he used to, he's even slower than he used to be."

Read more: Trump slams Joe Biden as 'mentally weak,' calling him '1% Joe' and saying he's 'slower than he used to be'

When asked by MSNBC's "Morning Joe" host Mika Brzezinski what he would do if Trump made fun of his appearance or mental state on a debate stage, Biden, who is 76, joked that he would challenge Trump, 73, to a physical contest of push-ups on the stage. 

"I would say come on Donald, come on, man. How many push-ups do you want to do here, pal? Jokingly. You know, come on, run with me, man," Biden said.

Biden further recounted how when a Trump supporter mocked him as "sleepy Joe" at a campaign event in Missouri where Biden was running up and down a parade to meet supporters, Biden jokingly challenged the man to run with him.

"I won't get down in the dirt with him. That's the only place he knows how to fight. I'll continue to talk about what he's doing. Why it's so damaging to America. And as my mother would say I won't take any guff from him," Biden further told "Morning Joe" of his strategy to defeat Trump.

Read more: Joe Biden ripped Trump for bankrupting the world's trust in the US in a blistering speech

But Biden hasn't always wanted to take the high road when it comes to Trump. In March of 2018, Biden said at a public event he would like to beat up Trump over crude and offensive comments Trump made about women. 

"They asked me would I like to debate this gentleman, and I said no. I said, 'If we were in high school, I'd take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him," Biden said at the time.