Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) argued on Sunday that Vice President Kamala Harris has not abandoned her progressive ideals, but rather is being “pragmatic” when she flip flips on certain policy issues while running her 2024 campaign for the White House against former President Donald Trump.
On NBC’s “Meet The Press,” moderator Kristen Welker asked Sanders, “You have described Vice President Kamala Harris as a progressive. She has previously supported Medicare For All. Now, she does not. She’s previously supported a ban on fracking. Now, she does not. These, senator, are ideas that you have campaigned on. Do you think that she is abandoning her progressive ideals?”
“No, I don’t think she’s abandoning her ideals,” Sanders relied. “I think she’s trying to be pragmatic and doing what she thinks is right in order to win the election. My own view is slightly different. I think that in America today there are a lot of people, rural people, working class people, who no longer believe that the United States Congress and government represents their interests, too dominated by big-money interest.”
The comments were highlighted by Trump’s campaign, with the “War Room” account on X declaring in bold and all capital letters, “QUIET PART OUT LOUD.”
Social media influencer Rogan O’Handley, better known as “DC Draino,” said the clip “needs to be everywhere.” He said that Sanders was “confirming that Kamala is doing whatever it takes to win the election,” and then “she’ll enact Marxist policies.” He concluded, “They’re openly telling us their plans.”
Sanders, in continuing his response, went on to say, “I think that there is something wrong, personally, when we are the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all of our people, despite spending twice as much per capita. That is why I support Medicare For All. She does not,”
He added. “She has another approach toward moving toward universal health care. But again, I think on issues like expanding Medicare by expanding social security and lifting the cap on taxable income that the rich put in so we can raise Social Security benefits, the need to raise the minimum wage from a starvation $7.25 minimum wage to a living wage, I think if you campaign on those issues, raising taxes on billionaires, you know what? She’s going to win. And I think she could win big.”
In following up, Welker asked Sanders, “Well, let me just ask you, then, big picture. Do you still consider Vice President Kamala Harris to be progressive, senator?”
“I do,” Sanders said. “Look, she is not where I am. But I think, for example, when she talks about making the Child Tax Credit permanent, and you know we did that in the American Rescue Plan. We lowered childhood poverty by 40%. Kristen, we should not have, as the richest country on earth, one of the highest rates of childhood poverty in the world.”
“When she talks about building 3 million units of affordable housing, that’s a big deal because we have a major housing crisis in America,” he continued. “When she talks about passing the PEARL Act to make it easier for workers to join unions, that’s a big deal because we have to expand the union movement so that workers get decent wages. So yeah, her views are not mine, but I do consider her progressive.”
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