Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders expressed his continuing support for President Joe Biden in the 2024 election in a New York Times op-ed published Saturday.
Sanders, who opposed Biden for the Democratic nomination in 2020, called on Democrats to rally behind the presumptive party nominee even while acknowledging that the president is “old, is prone to gaffes, walks stiffly and had a disastrous debate with Mr. Trump,” he said in the op-ed. In the midst of calls from 18 House Democrats and Democratic Vermont Sen. Peter Welch for Biden to drop out of his re-election bid, Sanders is steadfast in his support for Biden, echoing his initial endorsement in 2023, according to The Associated Press.
“Enough! Mr. Biden may not be the ideal candidate, but he will be the candidate and should be the candidate,” Sanders wrote. “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.”
I will do all that I can to see that President Biden is re-elected.
Why?
Despite my disagreements with him, 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.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 13, 2024
There has been widely-reported infighting among Democrats over the viability of Biden’s candidacy, with the Democratic House Caucus failing to reach an agreement on a path forward. Democratic Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen told reporters that House Dems are “not even in the same book” when it comes to Biden’s nomination.
Former President Barack Obama and former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi allegedly expressed their problems with Biden’s prospects to each other, according to CNN on Thursday. Pelosi said on “Morning Joe” on Wednesday that “it’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run.”
Sanders reiterated some of his disagreements with Biden from the 2020 Democratic primaries in the column, including a more recent policy disagreement over Biden’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war, and repeating his calls from 2020 for “Medicare for all.” However, he stressed that those disagreements would not stop him from backing Biden and chastised his Democratic colleagues who have called Biden’s candidacy into question.
“But for over two weeks now, the corporate media has obsessively focused on the June presidential debate and the cognitive capabilities of a man who has, perhaps, the most difficult and stressful job in the world,” 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.”
Sanders’ office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Featured image credit: (Screen Capture/PBS NewsHour)
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