Sanders: I’ll do a better job explaining democratic socialism

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in an interview broadcast Monday that he intends to do a better job explaining what he means by the term “democratic socialism” as the GOP seeks to use the concept as a line of attack in the 2020 presidential race.

“What I mean by democratic socialism is that I want a vibrant democracy,” Sanders told NPR. “I find it interesting that people who criticize me are busy actively involved in voter suppression, trying to keep people of color or low-income people from voting, because they don’t want a vibrant democracy. I do.”

{mosads}He added that the idea of democratic socialism means that all people in the U.S. should have a “decent standard of living.”

“That’s not utopian dreaming; that is a reality,” he told the public radio network. “Health care for all can be done and we can save money in doing it. We can have a minimum wage which is a living wage, and I’m delighted to see that you know, right now, five states already passed $15 an hour minimum wage. The House of Representatives is gonna do it. We have got to do that.”

Sanders is a self-described democratic socialist, but other 2020 Democratic candidates have sought to distance themselves from the label and stress their support of capitalism.

Sanders is one of several candidates who has entered the 2020 field, joining former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), among others.