The Sunrise Movement, the youth-led group largely behind the Green New Deal, is officially backing Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for president, it announced Thursday.
The group, composed of activists who have pushed the Green New Deal and backed the four far-left members of the “Squad” — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) — endorsed Sanders for president this week.
It will make a formal announcement during a January 12 rally in Iowa City, Iowa, alongside the socialist senator:
“We know that no matter who the next President is, we will need to turn millions of people into the streets and disrupt business as usual in order to win a Green New Deal,” the Sunrise Movement said in a statement posted to Medium.
“But our movement has spoken clearly. We believe a Bernie Sanders Presidency would provide the best political terrain in which to engage in and ultimately win that struggle for the world we deserve,” it continued.
The Sunrise Movement, which supports and lobbies for radical leftist policy proposals like the Green New Deal, has been active in the current election cycle, taking aim at Joe Biden (D) in September over a high-profile Wall Street fundraiser hosted by fossil fuel executive Andrew Goldman.
“If Biden is serious about taking on the power of the fossil fuel lobby, why is he going to a fundraiser hosted by the co-founder of a natural gas company?” Sunrise Movement founder and executive director Varshini Prakash asked.
“We know how this works: Fossil fuel millionaires drive us towards an uninhabitable future, then host fundraisers and expect the next president to take their advice on policy,” Prakash added.
Sanders supporter and Green New Deal advocate Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) joined activists, including those from the Sunrise Movement, for a sit-in at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) office in 2018, prior to taking office:
“She was elected as part of the movement, she intends to govern as part of the movement,” former Ocasio-Cortez spokesman Corbin Trent stated.
Trent added:
She thinks there is no other priority that we should be focused on and supports the sunrise movements call for Democrats to create a plan to transition the economy to a zero-carbon economy so we have that ready to go when we take back the Presidency in 2020.
Sanders has praised the Sunrise Movement in the past and called youth the “most progressive generation in American history.”
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