Joe Biden received an unexpected boost on Saturday from one of his former political opponents.
Bernie Sanders took to The New York Times to defend the president from calls that he should step aside from the campaign.
The socialist senator from Vermont writes that he intends to do all he can to re-elect Joe Biden to the White House despite their many disagreements. Calling him one of the most effective presidents in history, Sanders says:
I strongly disagree with Mr. Biden on the question of U.S. support for Israel’s horrific war against the Palestinian people. The United States should not provide Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing extremist government with another nickel as it continues to create one of the worst humanitarian disasters in modern history.
I strongly disagree with the president’s belief that the Affordable Care Act, as useful as it has been, will ever address America’s health care crisis. Our health care system is broken, dysfunctional and wildly expensive and needs to be replaced with a “Medicare for all” single-payer system. Health care is a human right.
And those are not my only disagreements with Mr. Biden.
But for over two weeks now, the corporate media has obsessively focused on the June presidential debate and the cognitive capabilities of a man who has, perhaps, the most difficult and stressful job in the world. The media has frantically searched for every living human being who no longer supports the president or any neurologist who wants to appear on TV. Unfortunately, too many Democrats have joined that circular firing squad.
Yes. I know: Mr. Biden is old, is prone to gaffes, walks stiffly and had a disastrous debate with Mr. Trump. But this I also know: A presidential election is not an entertainment contest. It does not begin or end with a 90-minute debate.
Bernie also attacked Democrats who have called for the president to step down, labeling them as part of a “circular firing squad.”
The senator, who at 82 is the second-oldest sitting U.S. senator after Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley, also chastised the “corporate media” for their “obsessive” focus on President Biden’s cognitive abilities. He expressed his frustration with the relentless attention given to this topic by the media.
Sanders commented that the media has been “frantically searching” for every possible person who no longer supports the president or any neurologist eager to appear on television. He emphasized that this sensationalism detracts from more important issues and undermines public discourse.
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