AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File
- Bernie Sanders on Sunday denied any big concerns with Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, in contrast to a recently published article in the Washington Post.
- Appearing on Ali Velshi’s morning MSNBC show, Sanders said Biden “is in an excellent position to win” but can’t simply campaign against Trump.
- Sanders, a 2016 and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, has publicly encouraged Biden to reach out to Latinos and younger voters.
- He reiterated that voters want to hear more details about Biden’s economic plans, and lists several priorities that are most pertinent, including lowering health care costs and raising the minimum wage.
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Bernie Sanders on Sunday refuted a recent Washington Post article that described him as having concerns about the current direction of Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.
The Independent Vermont senator and former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate made an appearance on Ali Velshi’s morning show on MSNBC, denying the report, but also stating that Joe Biden needed to sharpen the focus of his campaign to energize voters.
During the 2020 Democratic primaries, Biden performed strongly with moderate, black, and suburban voters, while Sanders had more appeal with Latinos, progressives, and voters aged 18-29.
“What I have said privately is what I have said publicly, and that is that I think Biden is in an excellent position to win this election, but I think we’ve got to do more than to campaign than just go after Trump,” Sanders said to Velshi. “Trump is a disaster and I think most people know it.”
Sanders said he would like to see the Biden campaign tout his pocketbook message to voters.
"Joe has some pretty strong positions on the economy and I think we should be talking about that more than we have," he said.
"We have done 8 battleground state virtual rallies talking to several million people, and people want to hear about what Joe is going to do to raise the minimum wage and he supports a $15 an hour minimum wage," Sanders continued. "He knows that we can create jobs combatting climate change, which God knows we need to do seeing what's going on in the West Coast right now. They want equal pay for equal work. They want us to expand health care to as many people as possible and lower the cost of prescription drugs."