Free Republic

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday backed six progressive insurgent candidates in upcoming Democratic primaries, including two contenders who are challenging high-profile House Democrats. And the independent lawmaker’s also at odds with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) -- endorsing a rival candidate to the contender the Senate Democrats’ political arm is supporting in Kentucky. **SNIP** "One of the ways we must continue building that movement is by electing progressives at all levels of government. Because the truth is, real change never happens from the top on down. It happens from the bottom on up,” Sanders emphasized. Among those he’s backing...

Sen. Bernie Sanders is making clear that he doesn’t support defunding or abolishing police departments – but instead wants more training and better pay for police officers as part of his push for criminal justice reform. In an interview with The New Yorker magazine, the progressive independent lawmaker from Vermont said “do I think we should not have police departments in America? No, I don’t. There’s no city in the world that does not have police departments.” But Sanders – who in April ended his second straight bid for the Democratic presidential nomination – emphasized that he’s calling for “for...

Even by the standards of partisan vitriol being hurled in all directions amid civil unrest and the coronavirus pandemic, a remarkable dispute is raging among Bernie Sanders alumni in the aftermath of his second failed presidential campaign. Current and former Sanders staffers have lashed out at one another in recent days, concerning both general gripes about working with the Democratic establishment and personal shots at individuals’ post-campaign activities. Former Sanders speechwriter David Sirota has been critical of the campaign, tweeting repeatedly about its failures and how those involved, including himself, “should accept their blame” for Sanders’ loss.

Bernie Sanders’ former press secretary mocked Joe Biden on Monday, calling him “king of the Black people” and asking why he hasn’t “put an end” to riots. “The way the press talked about him, you’d think one statement from Biden, king of the Black people, could put an end to all this,” Briahna Gray on Twitter. “Wonder why it hasn’t worked.” Gray has repeatedly lambasted Biden since Sanders suspended his campaign. She called sexual assault allegations against the presumptive Democratic nominee “credible” and said the media has never focused on his “vulnerabilities.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders' political team – in an apparent bid for party unity – is asking supporters chosen to represent the former presidential candidate at the Democratic convention to sign agreements preventing them from criticizing Democratic Party leaders or other 2020 contenders either in person or on social media during this summer’s confab. And that’s not sitting well with some Sanders supporters who’ve received or heard about the agreements. “I think these restrictions are unreasonable and I don’t think it’s the way they’re going to get unity,” said a 2016 Sanders delegate who’s been picked to represent the populist senator...

... Last week Mr. Biden made a huge concession to the man he defeated, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and the Vermont socialist’s wing of the Democratic Party. The two men announced six “unity task forces” to “explore possible policy initiatives” on climate change, criminal justice, the economy, education, health care and immigration. Mr. Biden selected five members for each group and Mr. Sanders three; both men named a co-chairman for each committee. The two of them portrayed this as an effort to unify Democrats, which Mr. Biden called “key to defeating Donald Trump.” He said the task forces “will be essential...

Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) called “rethinking some fundamental tenets about the way our government and society works,” a “silver lining” of the coronavirus pandemic. Sanders said, “George, to tell you the truth, that if there’s any silver lining in this midst of this terrible, terrible, and unprecedented moment in American history in terms of the economy and in terms of the pandemic, is that maybe we start rethinking some fundamental tenets about the way our government and society works. And we should ask ourselves, among other things, is health care a human right that all...

Jeff Weaver, a top adviser to the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., which officially ended in April, has written a memo warning that the presumptive Democratic nominee, former vice president Joe Biden, might lose some votes from Sander’s supporters. He says they have become “unsupportive and unenthusiastic” about Biden’s candidacy. Weaver wrote, “There is a real and urgent need to help Biden consolidate Sanders' supporters. If all of Sanders’ base turned out for Joe Biden in November, he could defeat Trump and take back the White House for Democrats. Here’s the problem: significant portions don’t currently plan to.”...

In the realization that the fear of the coronavirus that is keeping people from resuming normal life won't last forever, Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) and Ed Markey (D-Mass) are cosponsoring legislation that will pay everyone in America until the virus' impact on the economy subsides. Their bill is called the Monthly Economic Crisis Support Act and would provide a monthly $2,000 check to single individuals, $4,000 to married couples, and $2,000 for each child (up to a maximum of three per family). To be eligible, your income needs to be less than $120,000 per year. "The hope...

Nina Turner, former co-chair for the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., wants progressives “go crazy” and turn up the heat on the Democratic Party and maybe mimic how the Tea Party previously defied Republicans. “What I would love to see the progressive movement do — from the progressive members of the House of Representatives and progressive members who may be in the Senate — is to go crazy,” she said during an interview published on Thursday. Turner told Jordan Chariton, CEO of the liberal outlet Status Coup, that Democrats might want to “take a page out of the...

A federal judge issued a ruling Tuesday requiring New York to hold its presidential primary in June and restore Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and other former presidential contenders to the ballot. The ruling from Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York, an Obama appointee, said that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) decision to scrap his state’s primary violated the First and 14th Amendment rights of White House contenders who have since ended their campaigns. “The Court concludes that Plaintiffs and Plaintiff-Intervenors have shown a clear and substantial likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that the...

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders’ political teams on Thursday announced a deal that would allow Sanders to keep hundreds of convention delegates he would have otherwise had to forfeit after suspending his White House bid. The agreement between the former vice president and the populist senator from Vermont avoids what could have been a messy political fight between the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and Sanders, who was Biden’s last remaining primary rival. The deal may also put to rest fears of a repeat performance of the divisive 2016 primary between Sanders and eventual nominee Hillary Clinton that led to a...

Despite the growing uproar from many of his progressive supporters over the sexual assault allegation leveled against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has remained quiet on the matter in recent days. The only time Sanders mentioned the allegation against Biden was earlier this month during an interview with CBS, in which the Vermont lawmaker asserted that “any woman who feels that she was assaulted has every right in the world to stand up and make her claims." But Sanders added that he did not know enough about the claims to comment further. “I think that...

Seeking to avoid the bitter feelings that marred the 2016 Democratic convention, Joe Biden’s campaign is angling to allow Bernie Sanders to keep some of the delegates he would otherwise forfeit by dropping out of the presidential race. Under a strict application of party rules, Sanders should lose about a third of the delegates he’s won in primaries and caucuses as the process moves ahead and states select the actual people who will attend the Democratic National Convention. The rules say those delegates should be Biden supporters, as he is the only candidate still actively seeking the party’s nomination. Quiet...

Former President Barack Obama had multiple long discussions with Sen. Bernie Sanders in an effort to convince him to bow out of the presidential primary, playing a significant role in the Democratic socialist’s decision-making, according to a report. In the weeks after former Vice President Joe Biden established himself as the presumptive Democratic nominee, following his win in South Carolina and sweeping victories on Super Tuesday, Obama had at least four conversations with the presidential hopeful, according to the New York Times. The paper reports that the former president told a close friend that Biden, now the party front-runner, needed to “accelerate the...

The announcement by Bernie Sanders that he is no longer campaigning for the Democrat presidential nomination has caused a wave of very depressed reactions from his supporters. Many of these reactions, as you can see in this video, are quite funny. The only person not depressed is the last guy who sees Sanders ending his campaign as a great opportunity to push for Communist revolution.

In the aftermath of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ abandonment of his campaign, many members and supporters of the Democratic Socialists of America now see through the DSA’s cynical and duplicitous role as an accomplice of the Democratic Party. For years, even preceding the 2016 election, the DSA trumpeted Sanders as the fearless leader of a “political revolution” that would transform the Democratic Party into an instrument of far-reaching social change. But Sanders has slunk out of the fight for the nomination in a manner that invites contempt. There was nothing of an old fighter’s last hurrah. The aged senator did...

The former press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-Vt.) presidential campaign said Monday that she would not endorse former Vice President Joe Biden, shortly after Sanders appeared in an online video to announce support for his former rival in the general election against President Trump. Briahna Joy Gray, who was Sanders's national spokeswoman until the campaign was suspended last week, has become a Twitter sensation in recent days for her searing attacks against Biden. On Monday, just minutes after Sanders and Biden held a joint press conference to talk about how they would work together to defeat Trump, Gray responded...

SNIP Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) formally endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden during a virtual event today. The event, which was billed as an online coronavirus event, comes less than a week after Sanders dropped out of the race. Sanders's endorsement marks an attempt to unify the Democratic Party, which has been fractured between its progressive and moderate wings since the 2016 presidential race. Sanders and his supporters, who regarded the senator's presidential campaign as a movement, have been skeptical of the party establishment, pointing to the reluctance of Democratic leaders to support progressive measures like "Medicare for All." The...

Bernie Sanders gave former presidential-primary foe Joe Biden his biggest endorsement yet Monday by joining him in a livestreamed event. “We must come together to defeat the most dangerous president in modern history,” Sanders tweeted. “Bernie, I’m gonna need you,” Biden told the Vermont US senator.