Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Sunday that Vice President Harris should be “very proud” of the administration’s record over the past few years and brushed off concerns about reversals in some of her policy positions.
“She should be very proud of the record of the Biden-Harris administration in taking on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, and creating millions of jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure,” Sanders said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“We have done more in that area than any administration in history. We are working hard to combat climate change, creating jobs, doing that,” Sanders added. “So we are making some progress.”
Sanders said he has been campaigning for Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, across the country and is committed to getting them elected.
“I am going to do everything that I can to see that Donald Trump is defeated and they are the next administration in this — in our country,” he said.
When asked about Harris reversing her support on issues including “Medicare for All,” fracking and some aspects of immigration policy, Sanders brushed off those concerns.
“Well, look, she has to run her campaign, and I am sure she is talking to all kinds of people to come up with an agenda that will lead to victory in November,” Sanders said when asked if he has concerns about those reversals.
“But I believe that, when you contrast what her policies are compared to Donald Trump, who doesn’t even believe that climate change is real, he thinks it is a hoax, who wants to give more tax breaks to billionaires, who has begun to talk about the kind of income and wealth inequality that we have in this country, who talked a big game about taking on the drug companies, but did nothing during his administration, I think the contrast is very clear,” he said.
Sanders noted that Harris plans to release her economic agenda next week and pointed to recent internal polling his team conducted that he said showed Americans “overwhelmingly” support expanding Medicare to cover dental, hearing and vision; raising the minimum wage to a living wage; and expanding Social Security by lifting the cap on taxable income.
“This is an agenda that is not only good policy. It’s what we should be doing, when so many of our working people are struggling,” he said. “It’s good politics as well.”