Sanders: Biden Had ‘Most Progressive’ Presidency ‘in Modern History’

On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) praised President Joe Biden as someone who “has put together the most progressive agenda and accomplishments of any president in modern history.”

While discussing his lack of a formal endorsement of 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and what commitments he wants from her, Sanders said, “I’m going to do everything I can to defeat Donald Trump, clearly the most dangerous president in our history, somebody who doesn’t believe in democracy, the right of women to control their own bodies. We don’t talk about it enough, this guy thinks climate change is a hoax in the midst of us experiencing the warmest day on Earth on record. So, he has got to be defeated. What I have worried about, as you know, Ali, for a long time, is, it pains me, as somebody who comes from a working-class family, that, right now, a majority of working-class people support the Republicans, who could[n’t] care less about the needs of working families. And I think that has a lot to do with the fact that the Democratic Party has, over the decades, turned its back on working people. And I think an important exception to that is Joe Biden.”

He continued, “Joe has been the first President in American history to walk on a picket line, appointed a really strong secretary of labor, good people, National Labor Relations Board, and I think has put together the most progressive agenda and accomplishments of any president in modern history. But what I hope we can do in this campaign is let the working class of this country, white and black and Latino, understand that we understand the pain that they are experiencing. We are looking at massive income and wealth inequality. Ali, the truth of the economy now, people on top are doing phenomenally well, 60% of our people are living paycheck-to-paycheck. We talked about health care, our healthcare system is broken, dysfunctional. We’ve got half of our elderly people trying to get by on 30,000 or less. We have a childcare system, totally broken. We have got to start paying attention to the needs of the working class of this country and stand up to powerful special interests, who have enormous power, not only in the Republican Party, but I have to say, in the Democratic Party, as well.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett