Sen. Sanders: ‘If You Believe in Democracy,’ Biden Is a Pretty Clear Choice for President in 2024
Biden should get the same "clean" debt-ceiling increase as Republican presidents, he adds
Joe Biden is the “clear choice for president” in 2024 if you care about democracy, according to Sen Bernie Sanders.
The Vermont independent and two-time presidential hopeful was reiterating his endorsement of Biden for reelection next year.
Despite Biden's age — and the disagreements that the two men have over policy — the president's commitment to democracy while Republicans slide towards authoritarianism puts Biden on top, according to Sanders, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020.
“Well, I think, when you look at a candidate, you consider a lot. I think age is one thing. I think experience is another thing. I think your record that you have established is another thing. But, to my mind, Dana, when you put it all together, what you have to look at is, what does the candidate stand for? Which side are they on? Are they on the side of the billionaire class, or are they on the side of working people?” Sanders asked during an on-camera appearance with CNN host Dana Bash. “Look, it is no great secret -- I ran against Biden, no great secret that he and I have strong differences of opinion.
“But when we live in a nation where you have a major political party — the Republican Party — where many, not all, but many of their leadership doesn't even believe in democracy, they maintain the myth that [Donald] Trump won the last election, they're trying to keep people from voting, they're trying to deny women the right to control their own bodies, so that's a whole issue out there,” Sanders added. “If you believe in democracy, you want to see more people vote, not fewer people vote, I think the choice is pretty clear, and that choice is Biden.”
Biden and the Democrats are more strongly on the side of working Americans, the senator said.
“And, second of all, what I do believe is the Democrats and the president have got to be stronger on working-class issues. They have got to make it clear that we believe in a government that represents all, not just the few, take on the greed of the insurance companies, the drug companies, Wall Street, all the big money interests, and start delivering for working-class people,” he said. “You do that, I think Biden is going to win in a landslide.”
Meanwhile, Biden should get a clean debt-ceiling increase given that Trump received the same thing when he was in the White House, Sanders said.
The federal government has exceeded its limit for borrowing to pay its existing obligations.
If Congress doesn't pass a new increase in coming weeks, the government wouldn't be able to pay bills and cause an economic meltdown.
However, House Republicans are trying to hold the debt-limit hostage to a round of policy negotiations, which Biden and the Democrats have rejected.
“That’s what Donald Trump wanted when he was president. That’s what he got. That’s what Ronald Reagan wanted when he was president,” Sanders said of a so-called “clean” debt-ceiling increase. “That’s what he got. You don’t hold the country and the world’s economy hostage over the debt ceiling. You pay your bills.”
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