On the primary night time of the Democratic Nationwide Conference Monday, Sen. Bernie Sanders — twice the runner-up for the Democratic nominatio
On the primary night time of the Democratic Nationwide Conference Monday, Sen. Bernie Sanders — twice the runner-up for the Democratic nomination — made a policy-based pitch for presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
Talking from his house in Burlington, Vermont, Sanders described Trump in no unsure phrases as “a risk to our democracy” and laid into his mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic.
“However the fact is,” Sanders mentioned, “that even earlier than Trump’s negligent response to the pandemic, too many hardworking households have been caught on an financial treadmill with no hope of ever going forward.”
The Vermont senator emphasised an inventory of progressive priorities {that a} Biden administration would advance, together with common pre-Okay, paid household depart, a $15-per-hour minimal wage, and sweeping motion on local weather change.
Sanders’s speech — coming from a onetime rival who criticized Biden within the major for not going far sufficient on a variety of points — displays the rising progressive embrace of Biden’s insurance policies as what Justice Democrats communications director Waleed Shahid described to Vox’s Matthew Yglesias final month as “probably the most progressive platform of any Democratic nominee within the fashionable historical past of the social gathering.”
Sanders concluded his speech by addressing not simply his supporters however the supporters of different Democratic presidential candidates and of Trump instantly.
“My associates,” Sanders mentioned, “I say to you, to everybody who supported different candidates within the major and to those that might have voted for Donald Trump within the final election: The way forward for our democracy is at stake. … The value of failure is simply too nice to think about.”
Learn a rush transcript of Sanders’s full remarks under:
Good night. Our nice nation is now residing in an unprecedented second. Dealing with the worst public well being disaster in 100 years and worst financial collapse because the Nice Melancholy. We’re confronting systemic racism and the big risk to the planet of local weather change. And in the midst of all of this, we’ve a president who shouldn’t be solely incapable of addressing these crises, however main us down the trail of authoritarianism. This election is a very powerful within the fashionable historical past of the nation. In response to the unprecedented disaster we face, we’d like an unprecedented response. A motion like by no means earlier than of people who find themselves ready to face up and combat for democracy and decency and in opposition to greed, oligarchy, and bigotry. And we’d like Joe Biden as our subsequent president.
Let me take this chance to say a phrase to the hundreds of thousands of people that supported my marketing campaign this 12 months and in 2016. My associates, thanks in your belief, your help, and the love you confirmed Jane, me, and our household. Collectively we’ve moved this nation in a daring new course, displaying that every one of us, Black and white, Latino, Native American, Asian American, homosexual and straight, native-born and immigrant, yearn for a nation based mostly on the rules of justice, love, and compassion. Our marketing campaign ended a number of months in the past. Our motion continues and is getting stronger on daily basis. Most of the concepts we fought for just a few years in the past had been thought of radical are actually mainstream. However allow us to be clear. If Donald Trump is reelected, all of the progress we’ve made can be in jeopardy.
At its most simple, this election is about preserving our democracy. Throughout this president’s time period, the unthinkable has turn into regular. He has tried to forestall individuals from voting. Undermined the US Postal Service. Deployed the navy and federal brokers in opposition to peaceable protesters. Threatened to delay the election. And instructed that he won’t depart workplace if he loses. This isn’t regular. And we must not ever deal with it like it’s. Beneath this administration, authoritarianism has taken root in our nation. I, and my household, and plenty of of yours, know the insidious manner authoritarianism destroys democracy, decency, and humanity. So long as I’m right here, I’ll work with progressives, with moderates and sure, with conservatives to protect this nation from a risk that so lots of our heroes fought and died to defeat.
This president is not only a risk to our democracy, however by rejecting science, he has put our lives and well being in jeopardy. Trump has attacked docs and scientists making an attempt to guard us from the pandemic whereas refusing to take robust motion to supply the masks, robes, and gloves our healthcare staff desperately want. Nero fiddled whereas Rome burned. Trump golfs. His actions fanned this pandemic, leading to 170,000 deaths and a nation nonetheless unprepared to guard its individuals. Moreover, Trump’s negligence has exacerbated the financial disaster we’re experiencing. Since this pandemic started, over 30 million individuals have misplaced their jobs, and plenty of have misplaced medical health insurance. Hundreds of thousands of working households are questioning how they may feed their youngsters, they usually’re fearful they are going to be evicted from their properties.
And the way has Trump responded? As an alternative of sustaining the $600-a-week unemployment complement that staff had been receiving, and the $1,200 emergency checks that lots of you acquired, as an alternative of serving to small companies, Trump concocted fraudulent govt orders that do nearly nothing to deal with the disaster whereas threatening the very way forward for Social Safety and Medicare. However the fact is that even earlier than Trump’s negligent response to the pandemic, too many hardworking households have been caught on an financial treadmill with no hope of ever going forward.
Collectively we should construct a nation that’s extra equitable and compassionate and extra inclusive. I do know that Joe Biden will start that combat on day one. Let me give you only a few examples of how Joe will transfer us ahead. He helps elevating the minimal wage to $15 an hour. Giving 40 million staff a pay increase and push the wage scale up for everybody else. Joe will make it simpler for staff to hitch unions, create 12 weeks of paid household depart, fund common pre-Okay for 3- and 4-year-olds, and make little one care inexpensive for hundreds of thousands of households. Joe will rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and combat the specter of local weather change by transitioning us to 100 % clear electrical energy over 15 years. These initiatives will create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs all throughout our nation.
As you realize, we’re the one industrialized nation to not assure well being take care of all individuals. Whereas Joe and I disagree on the very best path to get common protection, he has a plan that can enormously broaden well being care and minimize the price of pharmaceuticals. Additional, he’ll decrease the eligibility age of Medicare from 65 to 60. To assist reform our damaged felony justice system, Joe will finish non-public prisons and the detention facilities, money bail, and the school-to-prison pipeline.
And to heal the soul of our nation, Joe Biden will finish the hate and division Trump has created. He’ll cease the demonization of immigrants, coddling of white nationalists, racist canine whistling, spiritual bigotry, and the ugly assaults on ladies. My associates, I say to you, to everybody who supported different candidates within the major and to those that might have voted for Donald Trump within the final election: The way forward for our democracy is at stake. The way forward for our economic system is at stake. The way forward for our planet is at stake. We should come collectively to defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as our subsequent president and vice chairman. My associates, the worth of failure is simply too nice to think about. Thanks.
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