Sanders says Democrats should have given more speaking time to progressives

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Thursday said he was unhappy more progressive lawmakers hadn’t been asked to speak at this week’s Democratic National Convention. 

“They should have had more progressives speaking, giving them speaking spots,” Sanders told The Washington Post in a virtual interview.

.@SenSanders says he chose Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to second his nomination and explains how that nomination process works. He adds the DNC should given progressive voices more time to speak. https://t.co/uFiulX7lmj pic.twitter.com/xFeOR83Mej

— Washington Post Live (@postlive) August 20, 2020

Sanders comment comes after there was some confusion regarding Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-N.Y) appearance at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday when she formally seconded the presidential nomination of Sanders, the Democratic primary runner-up.

Many viewers didn’t realize that the first-term progressive’s endorsement of Sanders was, in fact, standard convention procedure. 

Candidates who win a minimum number of delegates during the primary like Vermont senator did are given the chance to be recognized. Sanders told the Post that he was the one that invited Ocasio-Cortez to give the brief remarks, not the convention, furthering his point.

At the same time, some prominent “Never Trump” Republicans were given speaking slots, including former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and progressives expressed dissatisfaction that a Republican like Kasich was given more time to speak that a rising star of the Democratic Party like Ocasio-Cortez.  

Sanders, arguably the leader of the progressive left, spoke at the convention Monday and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) spoke on Wednesday. One notable progressive who was excluded was former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, who criticized the convention for not having more Latino speakers during the four-day event.

After initially being left off the speaking slate, entrepreneur and former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang will speak Thursday night.