Bernie Sanders thinks his privilege of being a white elderly man in America is holding him back in the 2020 Democratic primary, one of several “problems” that are plaguing his campaign.

“Elizabeth Warren in current polling is catching up to you,” CNN’s Chris Cuomo told the Socialist senator from Vermont. “You got her, Biden and you are now at the top of the polls.”

“What do you think the reason is Elizabeth Warren is catching up to you in the polls? Do you believe people see her as the more electable version of Bernie Sanders?” he questioned.

“Well, you know, I think we’re running against a lot of problems,” Sander said. “Uh, I think that there a certain number of people who would like to see a woman elected, and I understand that. Uh, there are people who would like to, uh, see somebody who is younger and I understand that also.

“There are a lot of factors out there.”

Warren has climbed from single digit support in most national polls in April and May to double digit support in most polls in June, according to polling data at Real Clear Politics.

Sanders’ support, meanwhile, was consistently above 20 percent into April, but has since slid to the mid-teens in recent months.

The Real Clear Politics average of major Democrat primary polls in the last couple of weeks puts former vice president Joe Biden with 32.1 percent support, followed by Sanders with 16.5 percent and Warren with 12.4 percent.

In an Economist/YouGov poll earlier this month, Warren came in second with 16 percent compared to Sanders’ 12 percent.

Sanders told Cuomo that Warren is gaining on him because she’s “running a good campaign,” but he still believes he would be the best “Democrat” to take on Trump in 2020.

“Elizabeth is a friend of mine. I think she’s running a good campaign,” he said. “But at the end of the day, Chris, whether it’s Biden or Elizabeth Warren or anybody else, what I believe is, in fact, I am the strongest candidate to defeat Donald Trump, and I think some of the polling shows that.

“I believe that our campaign can win in the states we have got to win, and that is Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida. And in all of those states the polling at this point has me ahead,” Sander said. “I think the numbers will only grow in the months ahead.”

In the only major poll in Michigan, from Emerson in mid-March, Biden led the pack with 40 percent support, with Sanders second at 23 percent and Sen. Kamala Harris, of California, in third with 12 percent. Warren was fourth with 11 percent support, though she has campaigned in the state in the months since.

An Emerson poll in Wisconsin around the same time put Sanders in first with 39 percent, Biden at 24 percent, and Warren at 14 percent. Pennsylvania polling seems to follow the national trend, while in Florida polling in June was mixed, with Biden leading three polls, followed by Sanders in second on two polls and Warren in second in the most recent, according to FiveThirtyEight.