LAS VEGAS — Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont unbiased who gained the 2020 Nevada Democratic presidential caucus however not the nomination, got here to swing-state Nevada Thursday to rally about 200 supporters behind Vice President Kamala Harris’ Oval Workplace bid.
He simply didn’t inform the group to vote for her.
Billed by the native Harris-Walz marketing campaign as “a city corridor dialogue” that might “spotlight the financial stakes of this election for Nevadans,” Sanders’ 54 minutes on stage largely recapped the themes of his abortive White Home run with out his ever saying the phrases “Vote for Kamala Harris” or “I assist the Harris-Walz ticket.”
As an alternative, the three-term senator — who faces a re-election contest in November — spent six minutes expounding on the hazards of a second time period for former President Donald Trump.
“It’s crucial that we defeat Trump,” Sanders, 83, stated.
“I say this no matter your political opinions. I don’t care for those who’re a conservative Republican. You inform me whether or not you suppose it’s acceptable to have anyone who shouldn’t be solely a bully however a pathological liar within the White Home, alright?”
Whereas railing in opposition to the ex-prez on the stump, Sanders engaged in some revisionist historical past.
After emphasizing Trump’s 2020 election loss and subsequent challenges to ends in some states, Sanders stated Democrat Al Gore, who narrowly misplaced the 2000 presidential election to Republican George W. Bush, refused to “maintain interesting” and as an alternative determined to concede.
In actual fact, whereas Gore reportedly referred to as Bush to concede, he later withdrew that assertion and went to court docket difficult the Florida vote rely. The Gore marketing campaign’s appeals ultimately reached the US Supreme Courtroom, which dominated 5-4 in opposition to a Florida Supreme Courtroom choice requiring a statewide recount of ballots.
Sanders additionally claimed Trump’s 2016 rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, uncomplainingly accepted her shock defeat.
“Hillary Clinton’s coronary heart was damaged in 2016 — it was a detailed election,” Sanders stated. “She acquired the vast majority of the vote, misplaced the Electoral Faculty. She didn’t go whining. She didn’t go crying. She conceded and wished the brand new president effectively.”
However in her 2017 memoir “What Occurred,” Clinton blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin, then-FBI chief James Comey, President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Chief Mitch McConnell and the media for her loss —all of whom she accused of overemphasizing points surrounding her use of a personal server and lacking emails as Secretary of State.
She even rapped Sanders, whose primary-campaign “assaults brought about lasting injury, making it tougher to unify progressives within the normal election and paving the best way for Trump’s ‘Crooked Hillary’ marketing campaign.”
And let’s not overlook her different well-known election scapegoat: Russia. In cable-news appearances and on Twitter, Clinton repeatedly alleged Russian interference on Trump’s behalf influenced Individuals to vote in opposition to her.
The rest of Sanders’ time was spent rehashing his biggest hits: billionaires and trillionaires, the excessive prices of prescribed drugs and the minimal wage.
“Proper now, you might have billionaires spending large sums of cash in opposition to candidates who’re combating for the working class and supporting reactionary candidates who wish to give tax credit for the very wealthiest folks,” he stated.
Within the face of a number of viewers complaints in regards to the excessive price of prescription medicines, Sanders stated the US should be capable to negotiate costs with drug producers. He additionally referred to as for a hike within the minimal wage to $17 an hour, eliminating the “hunger wages” he stated some Individuals earn.
However Sanders conceded that “a few years go, I launched the minimal wage invoice. . . . We didn’t get one Republican who supported it, not one, however we misplaced six Democrats as effectively.”
Sanders additionally complained the media aren’t listening to the state of affairs in Gaza now due to “what’s occurring in Lebanon and the Iranian missiles that got here into Israel, which can be horrible, however youngsters are ravenous to demise proper now in Gaza.”
The senator ended the rally by calling for an finish to the Center East conflict, however he left with out asking his viewers to vote for the Harris-Walz ticket.
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