Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) says President Joe Biden is far more progressive as president of the United States than he was as a senator.
And the left-wing legislator said on Feb. 19 that he would back Biden if he ran for reelection in 2024.
The veteran legislator, who challenged Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, complimented Biden for meeting with him and his staff after the primary to develop a platform.
“I think as a result of the campaign and the task forces we did together, you recall, we had task forces during his campaign and my campaign,” Sanders said. “I think we came up with an agenda that was progressive.”
Sanders said that some of the early goals that the Biden administration and a Democratic Congress were able to accomplish in the first two years of Biden’s presidency were progressive victories, including the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.
“I think the American Rescue Plan that we passed early in his agenda, in the midst of the terrible pandemic, the economic collapse, was, in fact, one of the most significant pieces of legislation for the working class in this country, in the modern history of America,” Sanders said.
Sanders also said that the Build Back Better plan, which failed to get enough Democratic support, would have been “transformational.”
“It would have finally addressed the crises that the working class of this country has faced for decades: revolutionized child care, revolutionized health care, dealt boldly with climate change, raised wages, and it would have done a whole lot,” Sanders said of the failed plan.
“We got zero Republican support, and two Democrats decided not to support it.”
Sanders said he would support Biden if he ran for reelection in 2024, adding that he has done “a good job,” but said he wouldn’t speculate whether other Democrats would challenge the incumbent president.
The Vermont lawmaker said he thinks there is a “consensus” that Biden has done a “good job” while in office.
“And again, I can’t speak for anybody else,” Sanders said. “But what I have said is, if he ... announces that he is going to run, I will support him.”
Sanders wants to raise funds through legislation known as the Teacher Pay Act, which he plans to present with the recommendation that lawmakers impose an estate tax on America’s richest taxpayers to cover the guaranteed salary threshold.
