Senator Bernie Sanders sidestepped a direct answer Wednesday when pressed on whether Joe Biden should have stepped aside earlier in the 2024 election cycle, saying that the challenges facing the Democratic Party go far deeper than Biden’s timing.
“Bret, I’m not going back a year,” Sanders told Fox News anchor Bret Baier during a segment of “Special Report,” after Baier asked if Biden made a mistake by staying in the race for too long.
Sanders made it clear he had no interest in revisiting that particular debate.
“But isn’t that a big part of where the Democratic Party is?” Baier pushed.
“No, no, it’s not,” Sanders replied. “It’s nothing to do with Biden right now or Kamala Harris.”
Instead of focusing on internal party politics, Sanders pointed to broader systemic issues that he believes are hurting Democrats—namely, their perceived disconnect from average Americans and the working class.
“The question is: What is the fundamental issue in politics? Which side are you on?” he said. “So, right now, you have massive income and wealth inequality. You have the rich getting richer. Wealthiest people, large corporations control our economy. Billionaires control our political system.”
“The question is: Do you stand with the working class, with the elderly, with the kids, or do you stand with big money?” Sanders asked, repeating the populist message that has defined his political career.
Baier’s question followed a video clip from Biden’s recent interview with the BBC, in which he dismissed the notion that stepping down earlier would have changed the election’s outcome.
“I don’t think it would have mattered,” Biden said in the interview.
“We left at a time when we had a good candidate. She was fully funded,” Biden added, referencing Kamala Harris, who assumed the Democratic nomination and gained access to the sizable Biden-Harris campaign war chest.
In the months since the election, Sanders has continued to denounce the influence of powerful elites on both major political parties. Alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, he’s drawn crowds across the country with their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, spotlighting economic injustice and alleged corruption tied to the Trump administration.
{Matzav.com}