Nina Turner, a former top aide to Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) presidential bid, said Thursday that presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden is not truly seeking a progressive to be his running mate.
Turner, also a former state senator in Ohio, pointed to Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) as a potential progressive the Biden campaign could look to for a vice presidential pick, though no chatter has surfaced that Lee is in contention.
“If you are a progressive, you need not apply, that’s just the bottom line here. And no one should be surprised by this, certainly Vice President Joe Biden has the right to pick whomever he decides to. However, there is a component within the mainstream Democratic Party that has a disdain for progressives. So that is why the congresswoman is not on that list,” Turner said on Hill.TV’s “Rising.”
Turner noted that the Biden campaign is under pressure to pick a woman of color as its running mate in light of recent protests over systemic racism and police brutality, but that his running mate should be a progressive and not just check a box.
“This woke crowd, this is just temporary, this is just an illusion. Black women should have been mentioned in the game for a very long time…this moment is forcing any of the Black women that you even being mentioned in serious contention for the vice presidential slot, they are being mentioned because of the bubbling up of the grassroots,” she said. “This has to be…about an affirmation of humanity. It cannot be about just checking off the box.”
You can see more of Turner’s interview with Hill.TV above.
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