Still toying with a 2016 White House bid, Vice President Joe Biden slammed Republican front-runner Donald Trump over the tycoon's views on immigration on Tuesday.

"I don't want anybody to be down right now about what's going on in the Republican Party," Biden said during a celebration honoring Hispanic Heritage Month, the Washington Post reported. "Folks, the American people are with us. I know it doesn't feel that way. But I'm telling you. I'm telling you. The American people agree with us."

In his appearance at the Naval Observatory -- the vice president's official residence -- Biden departed from the Obama administration's general approach to stay out of the upcoming presidential race.

"I want you to remember, notwithstanding the fact that [Trump] absolutely denigrated an entire group of people, appealing to the baser side of human nature, working on this notion of xenophobia in a way that hasn't occurred in a long time," Biden challenged.

In a historic reference, the vice president then went on to compare Trump's views to that of the Know-Nothing Party, a 19th century political force that opposed immigrants and Catholics and gained traction in parts of the Midwest, CBS News noted.

"What America's all about is possibilities," Biden said. "And whenever you give anyone in this country, regardless of where they come from, they struggled to get here or (were) born here, they are for looking for a simple proposition: What are my possibilities? ... Given a chance, there is not a single person fighting to get here, particularly Latinos and Hispanics, who aren't capable of taking advantage of the possibilities here."

In the past few weeks, speculation has picked up that Biden may take advantage of the questions surrounding Hillary Clinton's email use and challenge the Democratic front-runner for their party's nomination.

The former senator admitted that months after the death of his son, Beau, he may still lack the "emotional fuel" for such a bid. But "if I can reach that conclusion that we can do it in a fashion that would still make it viable, I would not hesitate to do it," Biden told a crowd at the Ahavath Achim Synagogue in Atlanta earlier this month, according to CNN.