Bernie Sanders Endorses Kamala Harris and Outlines Progressive Agenda at DNC

When Vice President Kamala Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee for President in July after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, nearly the entire party quickly came together to endorse her campaign. But the Vermont independent senator who caucuses with the Democrats, Bernie Sanders, said at the time that he was not ready to do so.

Sanders told NBC last month that he wanted to hear more specific policies from her on how she planned to help the working class before he could offer his official endorsement. A few days later, it seemed Sanders must have gotten what commitments he was looking for, as he endorsed her during a rally in Maine.

And on Tuesday night in Chicago, the 82-year-old self-described democratic socialist and former 2020 primary rival of Biden and Harris reiterated his full support and encouraged his supporters to vote for the Democratic ticket.

“On November 5th, let us select Kamala Harris as our President, and let us go forward to create the nation we know we can become,” Sanders said during his primetime speech on the second night of the Democratic National Convention.

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Sanders, who has supported the Biden Administration and stood by Biden as others had urged him to drop out of his reelection bid, praised the government of the last four years, saying it has “accomplished more than any government since FDR.”

He lauded the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic and initiatives like unemployment benefits, rent relief, emergency assistance to businesses, and mortgage assistance, that he said were necessary after an economic downturn that coincided with then-President Donald Trump’s last year in office. 

“That was the reality the Biden-Harris Administration faced as they entered the Oval Office: a nation suffering, a nation frightened, and people looking to their government for support,” he said, adding that, “within two months of taking office, our government did respond.”

But Sanders also didn’t forgo the opportunity to call for more progressive policies in the next Administration. He said the Biden Administration illustrated how “when the political will is there, government can effectively deliver for the people of our country,” before outlining what he said the Harris Administration would go on to try to do: expand Medicare, tax the rich, increase social security benefits for struggling seniors, and take on price gouging.

Read More: Kamala Harris Rolled Out An Ambitious Economic Plan. Here’s What’s In It

“Let me tell you what else we must do,” Sanders said, before rattling off a progressive agenda that included guaranteeing healthcare as a human right, raising the minimum wage to a living wage, passing the pro-labor PRO Act, making sure every American “regardless of income” receives the higher education they need, and taking on Big Pharma to cut prescription drug costs. “I look forward to working with Kamala and Tim [Walz] to pass this agenda,” he said.

Sanders—who is Jewish and whose speaking slot immediately followed that of Sen. Chuck Schumer, who spoke about antisemitism—also took the opportunity to call for an end to the violence in the Middle East that has divided the Democratic Party, echoing a similar call made by fellow progressive lawmaker Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez the previous day at the convention.

“We must summon the courage to stand up to wealth and power and deliver justice for people at home and abroad,” Sanders said. “Abroad, we must end this horrific war in Gaza, bring home the hostages, and demand an immediate ceasefire.”