Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is doubling down on his support for President Biden, arguing that eliminating him from the Democratic presidential ticket “would do far more harm than good.”
Sanders, in an interview with The New Yorker published on Wednesday, also suggested that the president could “win big” against former President Trump in November.
The Vermont independent, who ran against Biden for the White House in 2020, said he doesn’t believe there is a “better path forward” for Democrats than keeping the incumbent at the top of the ticket, while acknowledging that Biden is “not the perfect candidate ”. .”
“I think he is the best candidate and I think if he runs a strong and effective campaign focused on the needs of the working class in this country, he will win big,” Sanders told the outlet. “And I think there’s a chance he could win big.”
He has been one of Biden’s most vocal supporters as the president faces growing pressure from some Democrats to withdraw from the 2024 race following his poor debate performance against Trump last month.
Sanders said the media should focus more on Biden’s record and plans for the future rather than showing his debate, which he described as “disastrous.”
“What the media should do, in my opinion, is focus on the contrast between Joe Biden, what his record is and what his vision for the future is, not just what happened in a debate,” the senator said. If you want to talk about cognitive abilities and things people say, take a good look at Donald Trump too.”
He also noted that Biden was slightly behind Trump before the debate and that the gap has not changed significantly since last month. While the difference is not monumental, Trump’s small lead, especially in swing states, has grown in the weeks since the debate.
In the national average of polls maintained by The Hill and Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ), Trump had a 1.7 percentage point lead over Biden on Tuesday.
“And given these really horrible weeks that Biden has had since the debate, where the Democrats are busy attacking him, the media is busy attacking him, if he’s not worse off today than he was before the debate, I think he has a very good chance of winning,” Sanders added.
New Yorker writer Isaac Chotiner rebuked the claim, saying Biden had fallen “a little” in the polls after already trailing the former president and suggesting the president “didn’t have much further to fall.”
“No, but let me add something to that. I have been critical of the Biden campaign – above and beyond the debate, which everyone understands was a disaster,” Sanders responded. “The truth is that Biden’s record, in my opinion, is the strongest record of any president in modern American history. I don’t think they’ve done a particularly good job of getting it out there.”
The progressive lawmaker suggested Biden should talk more about meeting the needs of the working class and how he will “stand up to powerful special interests.”
The comments came after Sanders posted an opinion article with The New York Times, calling on Democrats to end the “circular firing squad” after two weeks of public debate over whether Biden should continue his presidential campaign.
Several House Democrats, along with Sanders’ Vermont colleague Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), have publicly urged Biden to withdraw due to concerns about his ability to defeat Trump.
“Enough! Biden may not be the ideal candidate, but he will be the candidate and he must be the candidate,” said Sanders.he wrotein the article. “And with an effective campaign that addresses the needs of working families, he will not only defeat Mr. Trump, he will defeat him violently.”
“It’s time for Democrats to stop the bickering and bickering,” he added.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
