Bernie Sanders says Biden could ‘win big’ against Trump

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is doubling down on his support for President Biden, arguing that eliminating him from the Democratic presidential ticket would “do a lot more harm than good.”

Sanders, in an interview with The New Yorker published Wednesday, also suggested that the president could “win big” against former President Trump in November.

The Vermont independent, who ran against Biden for the White House in 2020, said he does not believe there is a “better path forward” for the Democrats other than keeping the incumbent atop the ticket, while acknowledging that Biden is “not the perfect candidate.”

“I think he is the best candidate and I think if he runs a strong, effective campaign focused on the needs of the working class of this country, he will win big,” Sanders told the outlet. “And I think there’s a chance he could win big.”

He has been one of the most vocal supporters of Biden as the president faces mounting pressure from some Democrats to step down from the 2024 race following his poor debate performance against Trump last month.

Sanders said the media should focus more on Biden’s record and plans for the future, rather than his debate showing, which he described as “disastrous.”

“What the media should be doing, in my view, is focusing on the contrast between Joe Biden, what his record is and what his vision is for the future, not just what happened in a debate,” the senator said. “And if you want to talk about cognitive capabilities and you want to talk about things that people say, take a hard look at Donald Trump as well.”

He also noted that Biden polled slightly behind Trump prior to the debate and that difference has not changed significantly since last month. While the difference is not monumental, Trump’s small advantage, particularly in the swing states, did expand in the weeks following the debate.

In the national polling average maintained by The Hill and Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ), Trump has a 1.7 percentage point lead over Biden as of Tuesday.

“And given these really horrific several weeks that Biden has had since the debate, where Democrats are busy attacking him, the media is busy attacking him, if he’s not any worse off today than he was before the debate, I think that he has a very good chance to win,” Sanders added.

New Yorker staff writer Isaac Chotiner rebuked the claim, stating Biden dropped “a little bit” in polling after already falling behind the former president and suggested the president “didn’t have that much further to fall.”

“No but let me just add something to this. I have been critical of the Biden campaign—above and beyond the debate, which everybody understands was a disaster,” Sanders replied. “The truth of the matter is Biden’s record, in my view, is the strongest record of any president in modern American history. I don’t think they’ve done a particularly good job of getting that out.”

The progressive lawmaker suggested Biden should talk more about addressing the needs of the working class and how he will “take on powerful special interests.”

The remarks came after Sanders published an op-ed with The New York Times, calling on Democrats to end the “circular firing squad” after two weeks of a public debate over whether Biden should continue his presidential campaign.

A number of House Democrats, along with Sanders’s Vermont colleague, Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), have publicly urged Biden to withdraw due to concerns about his ability to beat Trump.

“Enough! Mr. Biden may not be the ideal candidate, but he will be the candidate and should be the candidate,” Sanders wrote in the op-ed. “And with an effective campaign that speaks to the needs of working families, he will not only defeat Mr. Trump but beat him badly.”

“It’s time for Democrats to stop the bickering and nit-picking,” he added.