Joe Biden fears for an “ideological jihad” of Bernie Sanders, after beating himself for the nomination of Democratic president in a primary fierce controversy by centrists and progressives, the former vice president told the New Yorker.
Barack Obama, in an apparent attempt to close any lingering divisions in Democratic ranks as the presidential election progresses, told the same reporter that the two men’s policy goals are “not that different”.
Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont and a self-described Democratic Socialist, strongly pushed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 primaries. In 2020, he made a strong early show before Biden returned, winning South Carolina, a major test of support among African-Americans, in what was seen as a solid victory for party centrists.
Biden, 77, and Obama’s vice president from 2009 to 2017, accepted the nomination to face Donald Trump at the Democratic convention last week.
Sanders supported Biden and spoke at the convention, but springs from progressives, not least seeing what they see as the relative sidelining of stars such as Alexandria Ocasio – Cortez, the New York congresswoman, and Biden’s unwillingness to fully embrace policy. , including Medicare for All and the Green New Deal.
Biden told the New Yorker that he “had to make sure Bernie was serious, that he would not make this an ideological jihad.”
Discussing policy issues, including one on the climate crisis, a panel chair of Ocasio – Cortez added: “I said, ‘Bernie, if you want these to be set up to suggest to me that I’m in favor of Medicare for All. .this is not where it’s going. ‘
“But I said, ‘I’m open, I hear you, I’m ready to listen.”
The attempt seems to have worked. In June, Sanders told the New Yorker, “I have a better relationship with Joe Biden than I had with Hillary Clinton.” This month, the magazine quoted a ‘senior aide’ to the senator who said Biden told the senator that he “wanted the most progressive president since FDR”.
Obama stated that “if you look at the goals of Joe Biden and the goals of Bernie Sanders, they are not that different, from a level of 40,000 ft. They both want to make sure everyone has health care. They want to make sure that everyone can get a job that pays a living wage. They want to ensure that every child receives a good education. ”
The former president also stressed the need for pragmatism in the fight against Trump.
‘Many times,’ he said, ‘the problem has to do with’ How do we go about it, and what are the coalitions we need? ‘What I think the moment is done is to change some of those calculations, not because necessarily Joe’s has changed, but because circumstances have changed. “
