Bernie Sanders: Hard for Joe Biden to Defend His Record on Trade When It’s Devastated the Midwest
RUSH EXCERPT:
TAPPER: "You canceled an event in Mississippi where seven in ten Democratic primary voters are black in order to focus on Michigan instead. This came of course after black voters overwhelmingly voted for Biden on super Tuesday. Do you worry what message that might send to voters of color in places —"
SANDERS: "Look, everybody knows there are limited amounts of time. We did three rallies yesterday. We were in Chicago, Illinois. Illinois’ primary is coming up in a week. We had 15,000 people out in grant park. We had three rallies yesterday. We are working as hard as we can. We have to adjust the schedule every moment. We look forward to doing well in Mississippi. It will be a tough state for us. Right now our focus is in Michigan where we think we have the agenda that can win this state. And we’re two people in the race, it’s vice president Biden and myself. We have the opportunity to contrast our voting records, our vision for the future. And in Michigan, the people here have been devastated, devastated in Flint and Detroit by these disastrous trade agreements that Joe Biden voted for. He voted for nafta. He voted for the agreement in China which forced Americans to compete with desperate people working for pennies an hour. We lost a lot of jobs, 160,000 jobs in Michigan alone. I helped lead the opposition to those disastrous trade agreements. I knew what they would do. Unfortunately I was right. Joe voted for the war in Iraq, the worst foreign policy blunder in the history of this country. Joe voted for the Wall Street bailout, I led the opposition to it. People have a right to know what our vision is for the future. Now that there are two people in the race, we’ll have the opportunity to have that debate."
TAPPER: "The vice president’s response says he helped lead the efforts for the auto bailout which saved a lot of jobs in Michigan."
SANDERS: "It wasn’t just the vice president. He was vice president. Barack Obama was the president. Members of Congress worked hard on that bailout as well. But the bottom line here is, we have had — you know, if you’re talking about taking on Trump and defeating Trump, Joe understands and I understand that we have to do everything possible to defeat Trump, and I’ll support Joe if he wins, he’ll support me if I win. Going into Wisconsin, key battleground states, all states that have been devastated by these terrible trade agreements. I fear very much if Joe is the candidate, believe me, Trump will and has already talked about Joe’s record on trade. I believe that we are the strongest campaign to defeat Donald Trump, a, because we have a grassroots movement that is unparalleled, B, because we have a voting record that speaks to the needs of working families. I believe that the United States has got to join every other major country on Earth, guarantee health care to all people as a human right, help lead the effort to raise the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour, help lead the effort to demand that at a time of massive income and wealth inequality, the rich start paying their fair share of taxes."
TAPPER: "Senator, are you saying Joe Biden will lose Michigan and other industrial states to President Trump if he’s the nominee?"
SANDERS: "No, I’m not saying that. I’ve been asked that a million times. I believe if Joe is the candidate, I’ll do everything I can to ensure that he does win. But I think just looking at the facts, if you’re going into the industrial base of the united States of America, the heartland of America, and you voted for agreements that have devastated communities like Flint, Detroit, it’s hard to make the case when Trump has made trade such an important part of his agenda. Now, Trump lies all of the time. He is a pathological liar, it’s running a corrupt administration. But it will be hard, I believe, not to say that he can’t do it, but it will be hard for Joe to defend a record on trade when it has had such a negative impact on the midwest."
