Sanders applauds Harris’s ‘strong, progressive’ economy agenda

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) celebrated Vice President Harris’s newly unveiled economic plan Friday, heralding the proposals as “strong” and “progressive.”

“Well, I think given the fact that she has been a candidate for only three weeks, I think she’s doing really, really well in a whole lot of ways,” Sanders told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes. “I think what she laid out today was a strong progressive agenda.”

“Obviously, in the weeks and months to come, I think she’s going to add more specificity to some of these proposals, and she’s going to add to it,” he added.

Harris, who rose to the top of the Democratic ticket last month after President Biden dropped out of the race, announced her economic plan Friday during a campaign stop in Raleigh, N.C. The proposals — which analysts say could cost up to $1.7 trillion — range from cutting taxes to boosting housing construction to putting a federal ban on price gouging.

Harris’s campaign said the plan, which came as critics targeted the vice president for her lack of a policy platform, marks just one part of her economic agenda and, if elected, will be a priority for her first 100 days as president.

The Vermont senator, who ran against Harris and Biden in the 2020 election, said the policy positions outlined in the Democratic nominee’s plans are “the right thing to do.”

“I have always believed that good policy is good politics, and what she is talking about today is reining in the outrageously high cost of prescription drugs that’s enormously popular. The right thing to do,” he said on MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes,” echoing comments he made earlier Friday on social media platform X. “She’s talking about building 3 million units of affordable housing at a time when we have a housing crisis in Burlington, Vermont, Los Angeles, California, and every place in between.”

“We’ve got to lower the cost of housing in America,” he added, while listing off other proposals that he supports including ending medical debt and controlling the costs of grocery prices.

Sanders has withheld a formal endorsement of Harris, as he seeks to help shape the focus of her campaign much as he did with Biden. The Vermont independent had urged the president to stay in the race, even after a large number of Democrats pushed for him to step aside.

He also advised Harris earlier this month to be “very proud” of the accomplishments of the Biden administration.

In an interview following Biden’s withdrawal, the senator said Harris’s path to victory against former President Trump will only come from speaking to the needs of working people “who have been forgotten.”

“We need a presidential candidate who is prepared not only to stand up to the big money and trust, but to fight for working people,” Sanders said at the time. “And if she does that, I think she’s gonna have a great campaign.”

Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), who Sanders supported through the veepstakes, were certified earlier this month as the Democratic nominees for the White House. They will accept the formal nod next week at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

With less than three months until the election, the vice president has seen a boost of momentum in the polls — most notable in the swing states — a growing list of endorsements and boasted record fundraising hauls.