On Face The Nation yesterday, Sen. Bernie Sanders told Robert Costa that Biden has his full support.
“President Biden can clearly defeat Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in the history of this country. And the choice is quite clear. You got in Trump somebody wants to take away a woman’s right to control her body, who thinks that climate change is a hoax, and who has turned his back on the working class of this country,” he said.
“And on the other side, you have Joe Biden, first president in American history to walk a picket line; we have put more money into fighting climate change than any time in the history of this country; we’re rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure.
“But this I do want to say and where I am critical of the Biden campaign: it’s one thing to talk about your record over the last three-and-a-half years, which is a strong record, but the American people are hurting. Sixty percent of our people living paycheck to paycheck. Twenty five percent of elderly people are trying to get by on $15,000 a year or less. The American people want an agenda for the next four years that speaks to the needs of the working class of this country.
“So frankly, I don’t think the President has brought that agenda forward. He has got to say, ‘I am prepared to take on corporate greed, massive income and wealth inequality and stand with the working class in this country.’ He does that, he’s going to win, and win big.”
Sanders has been on the campign trail for Biden.
“Let me say this, and maybe the most important point, Bob, I want to make this morning: What we’re talking about now is not a Grammy Award contest for best singer. Biden is old, he’s not as articulate as he once was. I wish he could jump up the steps on Air Force One. He can’t. What we have got to focus on is policy.
“Whose policies have and will benefit the vast majority of the people in this country? Who wants the guts to take on corporate America? Who is talking about expanding Medicare so we cover dental, hearing and vision? Who’s talking about raising the cap on the taxes that people pay into Social Security so we can raise social security benefits and extend the life of Social Security for 75 years? Who’s talking about a permanent child tax credit to cut childhood poverty in America by 50%? Those are the issues he’s talked about. He’s got to bring them up in the floor. He’s got to promise the American people that if they give him a Democratic Senate, a Democratic House, reelect him, he’s gonna do that in the first 100 days. That’s what I think the American people want.”
“It’s about how we win this election. And maybe what we should be doing is creating a Democratic Party with Biden at the top that stands with the working class of this country. I will tell you this, whether you’re a Republican, Democrat or Independent: the American people are disillusioned, they are angry, they think that government is busy paying attention to the rich and wealthy campaign donors. And by the way, I find it personally insulting that The New York Times and all these media organizations go out front page “This is what the billionaire campaign donors feel.” Well, to hell with the billionaire campaign donors. Let’s worry about the working class of this country and what their needs are. “
He said Biden has been speaking with him about these issues. “I hope to be meeting on a regular basis with the White House to hammer out an agenda that speaks to the needs of the vast majority of the people who believe that both parties have turned their backs on them. Right now, we have more income and wealth inequality than we’ve had in the history of this country, the billionaire class has never done better. Hey, how about standing up for the working class of this country for a change? If Biden does that, he’s going to win, he will win big.”
