Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) addressed the mounting concerns regarding his age, 78, during campaign stops in Iowa this week, asserting that there are “advantages to being old.”
The campaign trail took Sanders to the Hawkeye State this week following his big endorsement rally in Queens last weekend, earning the formal endorsements of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore. The Fahrenheit 9/11 director addressed Sanders’ age during his speech–something Sanders has made a point to mention in his own appearances as well.
During a stop in Iowa on Thursday, Sanders said, “I’ve been criticized for being old. I plead guilty. I am old.”
“But there are advantages to being old,” he added.
According to the Washington Post, Sanders went a bit deeper at a news conference, explaining that he views his long track record as a clear cut advantage. It demonstrates his consistency in ideology throughout the years, he states.
“The ideas that I am fighting for now didn’t come to me yesterday,” he said, according to the Post.
“I’ve been on more picket lines, I expect, than all my opponents combined over the last 30 years,” he continued.
“Having a long record gives people the understanding that these ideas that I am talking about — they are in my guts. They are in my heart,” he added. “This is who I am as a human being, and it ain’t gonna change.”
Moore, who spoke at Sanders’ Queens rally last weekend, also talked about Sanders’ age during the big endorsement rally. He, like Sanders, presented it as an advantage, stating that it is the Electoral College–not Sanders–that is too old.
“I’m glad he’s 78, and we will benefit for his wisdom and his experience and his knowledge and his love for the American people,” the Fahrenheit 9/11 director told the crowd, calling Sanders’ advanced age a “gift.”
“It’s actually a gift that we have a 78-year-old American running for President of the United States,” Moore said.
“Well, here’s what’s too old. The Electoral College is too old. That’s what’s too old,” he continued. “A $7.25 minimum wage– that’s too old. Women not being paid the same as men– that’s too old.”
“Thousands and thousands of dollars in student debt. What is that?” he asked.
The crowd replied, “Too old!”
He prompted the crowd in the same fashion a few more times, using healthcare deductibles, super delegates, and fossil fuel as examples as things that are “too old.”
Moore also dismissed the growing concerns over Sanders’ health.
“How about we talk about the health of this planet that’s dying. That’s the health I care about,” Moore declared.