Biden on Trump's "socialist" attack: "He thinks he's running against somebody else"

"He's a very confused guy," Joe Biden said during the final presidential debate on Thursday after President Trump cited Sen. Bernie Sanders' attempt to make single-payer health care work in Vermont. "He thinks he's running against somebody else"

Why it matters: The Trump campaign has sought to paint Biden as an empty vessel for radical socialism, despite the former vice president's more moderate positions compared to candidates he ran against in the Democratic primary. Biden said the public health insurance option in his plan is not an example of socialized medicine, but is meant to ensure that Americans "have the right to have affordable health care."

What they're saying:

BIDEN: "People deserve to have affordable health care, period. Period, period period. And the Biden care proposal will provide for that, lower premiums. It's going to cost $750 billion over ten years to do it, and they're going to have lower premiums. You can buy into better plans, cheaper plans, lower your premiums. Deal with unexpected billing and have your drug prices drop significantly. He keeps talking about it — he hasn't done a thing for anybody on health care, not a thing.

TRUMP: "When he says public option he's talking about socialized medicine and health care. When he talks about a public option, he's talking about destroying your Medicare, and destroying your Social Security. And this whole country will come down. Bernie Sanders tried it in his state. He tried it in his state. His governor was a very liberal governor. They wanted to make it work. It was impossible to work. It doesn't work.

BIDEN "He's a very confused guy. He thinks he's running against somebody else. He's running against Joe Biden. I beat all those other people because I disagree with them. Joe Biden, he's running against."