Castro hits Sanders over reparations stance

Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro on Sunday hit Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) over his 2020 rival’s position on reparations.

“What he said … the other day was he didn’t think the best way to address this was for the United States to write a check.” Castro said during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

{mosads}”However, it’s interesting to me that when it comes to ‘Medicare for all,’ health care, you know, the response there has been, ‘We need to write a big check.’ That when it comes to tuition-free or debt-free college, the answer has been that we need to write a big check,” the former Housing and Urban Development secretary added. 

“If, under the Constitution, we compensate people because we take their property, why wouldn’t you compensate people who actually were property?” 2020 Democratic candidate @JulianCastro says about reparations. #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/WKZVVoCK5K

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) March 10, 2019

Castro’s remarks come after Sanders’s comments earlier this month during an interview on ABC’s “The View.”

“I think that right now, our job is to address the crises facing the American people and our communities, and I think there are better ways to do that than just writing out a check,” Sanders, who is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, said at the time.

Other Democratic presidential candidates, including Castro and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Kamala Harris (D-N.Y.), have said they are open to reparations for black Americans who are descendants of slaves.

Castro reaffirmed Sunday that, if elected, he would appoint a task force to look into reparations.

“If under the Constitution we compensate people because we take their property, why wouldn’t you compensate people who actually were property?” he said.