Biden says Russia is the biggest threat to America's security

Biden said he believes our biggest competitor is China

Joe Biden said in an interview Sunday that in terms of countries presenting a threat to the U.S., Russia takes the cake.

"Well, I think the biggest threat to America right now in terms of breaking up our -- our security and our alliances, is Russia," Biden told "60 Minutes" correspondent Norah O'Donnell.

The Democratic presidential nominee has criticized Russia throughout the campaign and during his time as vice president. His comments prompted a response from Vladimir Putin about two weeks ago.

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Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the second and final presidential debate Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020, at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

The Kremlin leader noted it as “sharp anti-Russian rhetoric,” saying it was something “we regrettably have grown accustomed to.”

Biden described Trump in the contentious first presidential debate in Cleveland on Sept. 29, as “Putin’s puppy."

On Sunday, he said our lack of standing in the world, which he largely attributed to Trump, was the biggest foreign threat our nation faces.

"Look what he does. He embraces every dictator in sight, and he pokes his finger in the eye of all of our friends," Biden said.

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Biden referenced Iran and North Korea, saying the latter has "more lethal missiles" and "more capacity than they had before."

"You [also] have a situation in the Gulf where you have Iran closer to a nu-- having enough fissile material to get a nuclear weapon than they had before," he said. "You have our NATO allies backing away from us because they say, 'We can't count on,' us. So he’s moving away from what has allowed us to bring the world together."

During the interview on Sunday, Biden said he also believes our biggest competitor is China.

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"I think that the biggest competitor is China," he added. "And depending on how we handle that will determine whether we're competitors or we end up being in a more serious competition relating to force."

The Associated Press contributed to this report