‘What Media Does to a Large Degree Is Make Politics into a Beauty Contest’
Bernie Sanders gets behind an embattled Biden
Sen Bernie Sanders is declaring his support for President Biden amid calls from some Democrats who want Biden to step aside from reelection following his abysmal performance last month debating Donald Trump.
Sanders, the progressive Vermont independent who himself ran for president twice, also blasted the news media for focusing too much on Biden’s advanced age at the expense of more important issues.
The senator spoke Monday in an on-camera interview with CNN host Kaitlan Collins.
The fate of Biden’s continued candidacy as the Democratic presidential nominee has been under scrutiny since his halting, and sometimes incoherent, performance in his June 27 face-off against Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.
But Sanders sought to tamp down controversy over Biden’s ability to seek a second term.
“I'm not speculation,” he said.
When Collins pushed back and said discussion of Biden’s candidacy is a “real conversation,” Sanders replied: “I know — I watch CNN and that’s all they talk about, 24 hours a day.
“But what I‘m suggesting is that what we should be talking about is which candidate is able to represent the needs of the vast majority of our people maybe just maybe we might want to talk about that,” he added.
Sanders made plain that he is willing to support Biden.
“President Biden is the Democratic nominee. Until I hear it differently, I will support him,” he said. “And I do believe that if he makes it clear that he is prepared to stand up for working people take on powerful special interest, he will win the election.”
There are more issues before the American people than Biden’s age, Sanders said.
“They’re worried about his age — they’re worried about his mental acuity — but you know what else they’re worried about? Are they able to afford to feed their families to pay the rent and having a living wage?” he said. “But what the media does to a large degree, is make politics into a beauty contest into a Grammy Award-winning contest.
“You are voting for somebody on policy who is going to improve your life. Do you want somebody who thinks that climate change is a hoax? Who takes away a woman’s right to control their own bodies, who appointed extremely anti-union leaders to his administration? Which is what Trump did.”
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