Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., recently declared his support for President Biden as the Democratic Party’s nominee for 2024 amid a deluge of calls for the U.S. leader to abandon his re-election bid.
The far-left lawmaker, who lost the Democratic Party primary to Biden during the 2020 presidential cycle, made his case for the president in a New York Times guest essay and called on those looking to ditch Biden following last month’s debate to get behind him.
"Enough! Mr. Biden may not be the ideal candidate, but he will be the candidate and should be the candidate," the senator declared.
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In the guest essay, Sanders praised Biden’s first term accomplishments, noted Biden policy he disagrees with, and demanded that the party stop entertaining the media’s agenda of finding a replacement candidate for Biden, which started after the president’s bad debate night last month.
He opened the essay, declaring, "I will do all that I can to see that President Biden is re-elected. Why? Despite my disagreements with him on particular issues, he has been the most effective president in the modern history of our country and is the strongest candidate to defeat Donald Trump — a demagogue and pathological liar."
He continued, stating how he disagrees with both Biden’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza and his perspective that the Affordable Care Act will "will ever address America’s health care crisis," but insisted that, despite these differences, he does not support Biden being replaced.
Slamming the call for Biden’s ouster, Sanders wrote, "The media has frantically searched for every living human being who no longer supports the president or any neurologist who wants to appear on TV. Unfortunately, too many Democrats have joined that circular firing squad."
The Democratic socialist and former presidential candidate admitted that Biden’s debate performance was "disastrous" and that he’s gaffe prone, but he argued it’s not enough to disqualify him from the race.
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"Yes. I know: Mr. Biden is old, is prone to gaffes, walks stiffly and had a disastrous debate with Mr. Trump. But this I also know: A presidential election is not an entertainment contest. It does not begin or end with a 90-minute debate."
He then urged the party to stop overthinking its choice in Mr. Biden: "And with an effective campaign that speaks to the needs of working families, he will not only defeat Mr. Trump but beat him badly. It’s time for Democrats to stop the bickering and nit-picking."
Sanders said that, compared to Trump with his felony conviction and other charges, Biden is "a good and decent Democratic president with a record of real accomplishment."
He did say that Biden will have to do more to win the presidency, however, stating, "To win the election, the president must do more than just defend his excellent record. He needs to propose and fight for a bold agenda that speaks to the needs of the vast majority of our people — the working families of this country, the people who have been left behind for far too long."
Towards the end of the essay, Sanders wrote, "This election offers a stark choice on issue after issue. If Mr. Biden and his supporters focus on these issues — and refuse to be divided and distracted — the president will rally working families to his side in the industrial Midwest swing states and elsewhere and win the November election."
"And let me say this as emphatically as I can: For the sake of our kids and future generations, he must win," he concluded.
