Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent, told NBC News on Sunday that Vice President Kamala Harris is not “abandoning” the “progressive” values she promoted during the 2020 campaign, but rather is “trying to be pragmatic” in order to win the November election.
Since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris has faced backlash from Republicans for reversing far-left policies she once championed, such as banning fracking. On “Meet the Press,” host Kristen Welker pressed Sanders on Harris' recent policy shift, asking him if he thought she had abandoned “progressive ideals.” (Related: Democratic governor changes tune on live TV over Harris' “support” for southern border wall)
“No, I don't think she's abandoning her ideals. I think she's trying to be pragmatic and do what she thinks is right to win the election. My own view is a little bit different. I think there are a lot of rural people, working class people in America today who no longer believe that an America, a Congress, a government that is controlled by the interests of the very wealthy represents their interests,” Sanders said.
“So I personally think there's something odd about us being the only major country on earth that doesn't guarantee health care to everyone, even though we spend twice as much per capita,” Sanders continued. “So I support Medicare for all. She doesn't. She's taking a different approach to moving to universal health care.”
Sanders said Harris could “win big” if she continued to campaign on issues like “raising taxes on billionaires” and “raising the minimum wage above starvation level,” but Welker again pressed the senator on whether she still considered Harris a “progressive.”
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“I and she, she's not in the same position as me, but for example, when she talks about making the child tax credit permanent, I think we did that in the American Rescue Plan. We reduced child poverty by 40 percent. Kristen, we, the richest country on earth, should not have one of the highest rates of child poverty,” Sanders responded.
“The fact that she's saying she'll build 3 million affordable housing units is a big deal when we have a serious housing crisis in America,” Sanders said. “And the fact that she's saying she'll pass the PRO Act to make it easier for workers to unionize is a big deal, because we need to expand unionization so workers can get a decent wage. So, certainly her views are not my views, but I view her as a progressive.”
In her speech, Harris outlined the specific policies she would support if elected in November, but her full policy platform has not yet been released. Campaign website As of Sunday, at her first news conference as a presidential candidate in late August, Ms. Harris said her “values haven't changed” without elaborating on why aides had shifted some of her policy stances.
“The most important and significant thing about my policy views and decisions is that my values have not changed,” Harris told CNN.
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