President Biden seems to be walking back on statements he made on the campaign trail which downplayed the threat China poses on America’s standing in the world. After a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Biden said that if America doesn’t step up China will “eat our lunch.”

According to Fox Business:

“Last night I was on the phone with for two straight hours with Xi Jinping,” Biden told reporters in the Oval Office. “It was a good conversation, I know him well, we spent a lot of time together over the years I was vice president, but if we don’t get moving, they’re going to eat our lunch. They have major, major new initiatives on rail, they already have rail that goes 325 miles per hour with ease. They are working very hard to do what I think we’re gonna have to do.”

“The auto industry is already there. So is labor. They’re working very hard to try to move in a position where they end up being the source of a new way in which to power automobiles, which they’re going to invest a lot of money. They’re investing billions of dollars in dealing with a whole range of issues that relate to transportation and the environment … so we just have to step up,” Biden continued.

Biden’s change of tune is in direct opposition to statements he made on the campaign trail when he criticized Trump’s tariff fight with China.

“The president has done nothing but increase the tariffs, the debt and the trade deficit. The way we have to proceed is we have to have our allies with us. It’s not just us. We have to keep the world together,” Biden said in 2019.