ORANGEBURG, S.C. —  Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Monday called Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a "madman" and raised the possibility that he could be assassinated by foes within his country.

"Ahmadinejad, the madman, is in competition with mullahs and ayatollahs who think he's overstepped his bounds," Biden told members of a local Kiwanis Club in this early voting state.

Ahmadinejad may be "assassinated, not by the good guys, but by the bad guys," said the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

At a campaign stop Sunday, Biden called Ahmadinejad "that wacko guy, the crazy president," and said he would only be in office for a little more than a year before being "taken out" because he threatened Shia interests.

Last week, Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd told a University of South Carolina audience he endorsed the Bush administration's recent willingness to hold joint talks on Iraq with Syria and Iran. But Dodd, also a presidential hopeful, said the United States needs to avoid talking with Ahmadinejad and called him "a thug."

Biden's campaign on Monday also announced he was endorsed by state Sen. Gerald Malloy and state Rep. Jerry Govan, both members of the Legislative Black Caucus.