Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Monday criticized fellow Democrat primary opponent Joe Biden (D) for delivering short speeches on the campaign trail, telling the audience at Fox News’s town hall that the American people are “entitled to thoughtful answers to the crises we face.”
Sanders participated in a Fox News town hall on Monday and took a question from a member of the audience, who told the presidential hopeful that Biden’s answers do not often “make sense” and asked for Sanders’ thoughts on answering questions “like Joe Biden does.”
“When I give a speech, often it’s 45 minutes or an hour, OK? Because there are a lot of challenges that the country faces, and I’ve got to talk about them,” Sanders said.
“You know, I think Joe was somewhere — where was he, I don’t know — Michigan or some place else the other day, and he spoke for seven minutes,” he noted. “I don’t know how you say anything other than, you know, minimal discussion in seven minutes.”
“If I’m going to give a speech to people…I can’t do it in seven minutes,” he continued, noting that there are simply “too many issues” to cover including health care, education, climate change, immigration reform, and criminal justice reform:
I don’t know how you do that in seven minutes. So, all that I’m saying, Martha, is that I think, as a candidate for president, you owe respect to the people. And you have to have the courage or the desire to say, hey, this is what — where I’m coming from. This is my view. You disagree with me? Fine. But I can’t do that in seven minutes in a speech.
Despite his criticism, Sanders reiterated that he was “not here to criticize Joe, but to say that I think the American people in this incredibly complicated and difficult moment in our history are entitled to thoughtful answers to the crises we face.”
Sanders also refused to weigh in on the growing concerns surrounding Biden’s mental stamina.
“I’m not going to go at that level in attacking. Joe and I have — you know, that’s for people to decide,” Sanders told Fox News’s Bret Baier.
“All I can say is, Joe and I have very significant political differences. And I’m not going to be making personal attacks on Joe,” he added. “That’s not what I do.”
Sanders’ remarks follow a squabble between the respective campaigns over the upcoming CNN-hosted debate, which will have candidates seated behind a desk as opposed to standing behind podiums. The change renewed suspicions from critics, who believe the Democrat establishment is maneuvering behind the scenes to boost Biden and sink Sanders.
“Why does Joe Biden not want to stand toe-to-toe with Sen. Sanders on the debate stage March 15 and have an opportunity to defend his record and articulate his vision for the future?” Sanders’ senior adviser Jeff Weaver asked, according to Politico.
Biden’s deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield dismissed the Sanders campaign’s remarks.
“We will participate in whatever debate CNN choses to stage: standing, sitting, at podiums, or in a town hall,” Bedingfield said. “The problem for the Sanders campaign is not the staging of the debate, but rather, the weakness of Sen. Sanders’ record and ideas.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.