Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said Joe Biden is the only Democrat he thinks would be competitive in the 2020 election against President Trump.

“Joe will be able to perpetuate the image of Uncle Joe, and he is pleasant. He is qualified,” Lott, a Mississippi Republican, said in an interview for the Yahoo News podcast “The Long Game.”

“Half this bunch in there right now is not qualified,” Lott said of the current Democratic field.

When asked whether Trump is qualified for the presidency, since he has less experience in politics or government than any of the Democratic candidates, Lott laughed in acknowledgment of the point.

“I guess you could argue he’s more qualified now than he was three years ago,” Lott said with a chuckle.

But Lott said he thinks Trump’s chances of being reelected are “surprisingly strong.” Even Biden, he said, would be “pulverized … in many respects” by Trump.

(Lott was Senate majority leader from 1996 to 2000. Democrats briefly regained the Senate majority in May of 2001, after Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont left the Republican Party, became an independent, and began to caucus with the Democrats, breaking a 50-50 tie. Lott remained as the Republican leader in the Senate until the end of 2002, when he resigned the post after making racially inflammatory comments.)