WASHINGTON – Sen. Bernie Sanders has always been a political maverick, but he recently served as the longest-serving independent in U.S. Congress and isn’t afraid to show his pragmatic side.
In an exclusive interview with USA TODAY on Wednesday, the senior senator from Vermont spoke about topics including the Israel-Hamas war, anti-Semitism, college protests and President Joe Biden’s record. One consistency that quickly became apparent was that Mr. Sanders parlayed his disagreements with Mr. Biden on some issues into something more urgent: the threat posed by former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. He said he wouldn’t let it get in the way of facing him.
He believes that Biden’s policy changes toward Israel are long overdue, but that young people underestimate the real threat posed by President Trump and that in their anger over Israel and other issues, they are I’m worried that they don’t realize that Biden is better for them. He is not where they want him to be over Israel.
“We are very angry about the Biden administration’s policies regarding Israel and Gaza, but the difficult thing is that in the real world that you live in, there are so many things that you have to consider. ” he said while sitting in the hearing room of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the Capitol. “Meanwhile, most young people and protesters want to see Donald Trump elected president, a racist, sexist and homophobe who does not recognize the reality of climate change. I don’t think you want to see that.” ”
The 82-year-old congressman was popular among younger voters when he ran in 2020, but ultimately supported Biden and became a powerful surrogate. His comments about young people and Trump come at a time when self-described democratic socialists are taking a more active role in delivering a direct message to Democrats, and polls show they are helping the incumbent president win. The announcement comes amid indications that Biden’s support is waning among critical voters. The White House about four years ago. Mr. Sanders has built his career on a promise to fight those in power, including big business and lobbyists, to help the working class.
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“I think the president has a lot to be proud of in terms of what he’s accomplished. I don’t know if he’ll get the credit for it,” he said.
Sanders praises Biden’s work on health care access and infrastructure
As chair of HELP, Sanders spoke about his work with Biden to take on the pharmaceutical industry. Last month, he and Biden attended an event with health care advocates at the White House that focused on lowering the cost of inhalers to $35 a month and other Democratic efforts to expand health care access.
“For the first time in history, Medicare will be negotiating prices. This is a big deal for health care overall,” he said.
He then spoke about the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill passed to address climate change, cancel “a lot” of student loans, and rebuild crumbling roads, bridges and water systems. He enumerated one after another the accomplishments of the Biden administration.
He also praised Biden for being the first president in U.S. history to stand on the picket line with the United Auto Workers union in Michigan, making it clear that Biden is “pro-union and pro-worker.”
Sanders against the Biden administration’s “unrestricted military aid” to Israel, which is waging the Gaza war after Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in southern Israel on Oct. 7. This is one of the areas where he is strongly opposed. Sanders has been highly critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct of the war, holding him responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
More than 35,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Beyond the death toll, a March 18 UN report said famine was “imminent” and humanitarian organizations estimated that more than 2 million people were at risk of starvation.
Military aid policy and conflict to Israel
A Gallup poll released on March 27, the day before the Biden campaign’s fundraiser, showed that 55% of all Americans do not support Israeli military action. That includes 75% of Democrats, up from 63% who said the same last November.
Biden signed a $95 billion foreign aid bill in April, which includes $26 billion in funding for Israel and humanitarian aid to Gaza and other areas. Mr. Sanders voted against the bill.
Sanders said the money was approved by Congress and signed by the president, but has not yet been made public.
“The president said to Prime Minister Netanyahu, ‘We need to tell Prime Minister Netanyahu that without a big, big increase in humanitarian aid, we’re not going to get a nickel, there’s no chance of starvation tomorrow.’ Stop the awful behavior of these settlers and start a serious discussion about a two-state solution. If you want money, these are the things you need to do.”
Pro-Palestinian protests have erupted across the country since police first tried to take control of a camp at Columbia University in New York about two weeks ago. There have also been numerous documented instances of anti-Semitism on campus since the beginning of the war.
At the same time, student protesters expressed concern that politicians often confuse criticism of the Israeli government with anti-Semitism. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently described university protesters as an “anti-Semitic mob.”
“I strongly reject the suggestion that if people are concerned about the military and express strong concerns, they become anti-Semites. That’s not the case,” Sanders said. “I find it truly outrageous that Prime Minister Netanyahu is trying to hide his government’s outrageous military actions behind a horrific image of anti-Semitism.”
He added that criticizing the Israeli government does not make you anti-Semitic or anti-Semitic, just as criticizing the Italian or Irish governments does not make you anti-Italian or anti-Irish.
But at the same time, Sanders acknowledged that anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are on the rise.
“I want to say to the protesters that whether it’s anti-Semitism or racism against Muslim students, black students, gay students, it’s unacceptable. That’s not what a peace movement is about,” he said. said. “And I strongly condemn it.”
“The solution is to mobilize the American people.”
Biden has called himself a Zionist, a term that has carried a lot of weight these days. They are not anti-Semites, but some say they are anti-Zionists. As a Jewish lawmaker himself, how does Sanders define Zionism?
“I don’t sit around and worry about what this word means. What I do know is that there is currently a far-right government in Israel, some of which are blatantly racist It just means there are some,” he said. “Hamas is the terrorist organization that started this war. Israel had the right to defend itself, but it does not have the right to wage war against the entire Palestinian people.”
Opinion polls show that many in the Democratic Party are disillusioned with Biden’s stance on Gaza, including young voters, Black voters, Arab and Muslim-American voters, What does a president need to do? “A change in policy towards Netanyahu and Israel would be a good step forward,” he said. “I think that’s going to be the number one job. So I think it’s long past time to change that.”
Sanders, the de facto leader of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing, which supports Biden, said that no matter how disillusioned voters are, the solution is to “get people like Putin who are trying to undermine American democracy.” “Don’t elect a president who glorifies authoritarian leaders,” he said.
“The solution is to bring together the American people, working class people, black people, white people, Latino people, Native Americans, whatever they are, and for a government that represents all of us, not just a few. It’s about fighting.” ”
SWapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is USA TODAY’s White House correspondent. You can follow her at X (formerly Twitter) @SwapnaVenugopal.
