Bernie Sanders admitted that Joe Biden “is old, prone to gaffes, walks stiffly and had a disastrous debate with Trump.”
The Democratic senator outlined his views in an essay for the New York Times, in which he accepted that the president “is not the ideal candidate.”
But he warned his party’s supporters that obsessing over Biden’s mistakes would only ensure Donald Trump is elected.
Sanders, 82, specifically took aim at a vocal group of elected Democrats, whom he called a “firing squad” and who have been calling for the president to withdraw since the presidential debate.
“Enough! Biden may not be the ideal candidate, but he will be the candidate and he should be the candidate,” Sanders wrote.
Bernie Sanders admitted that Joe Biden “is old, prone to making mistakes, walks stiffly and had a disastrous debate with Trump”
“And with an effective campaign that speaks to the needs of working families, she won’t just defeat Trump, she’ll defeat him completely. It’s time for Democrats to stop bickering and picking on him.”
The Vermont representative admitted that he and the president disagree on several issues, including U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza and the Affordable Care Act, which he views as inadequate.
However, he defended the president’s “excellent” track record in office, as well as his performance in recent weeks.
Biden has pledged to run for office, but critics have used his recent blunders as evidence that he lacks the mental capacity to lead.
“For more than two weeks, the corporate media has been obsessively focused on the June presidential debate and the cognitive abilities of a man who has perhaps the most difficult and stressful job in the world,” Sanders said.
“The media has been frantically searching for every living human being who no longer supports the president or any neurologist who wants to appear on television. Unfortunately, too many Democrats have joined that circular firing squad.”
He said that despite his own doubts about Biden, he remains a superior choice to Trump, whom he reduced to his litany of felony charges.
‘Unlike Republicans, they don’t have to justify a candidate who now has 34 felony convictions and faces charges that could lead to dozens more.
The Vermont representative outlined his issues with Biden but condemned a vocal “firing squad” that has focused on the president’s age.
Sanders warned his party’s supporters that obsessing over Biden’s mistakes would only ensure Donald Trump is elected.
“He has been sentenced to $5 million after being found liable in a sexual abuse case, has been involved in over 4,000 lawsuits, has filed for bankruptcy repeatedly, and has told thousands of documented lies and falsehoods,” Sanders wrote.
He accused Trump of wanting to protect billionaires at the expense of ordinary Americans.
“If Biden and his supporters focus on these issues and refuse to be divided and distracted, the president will unite working families in key states in the industrial Midwest and elsewhere and win the November election,” Sanders said.
‘And let me say this as emphatically as I can: for the sake of our children and future generations, he must win.’
The rehearsal comes after weeks of embarrassing gaffes by the president that have been on display since the presidential debate that involved a car crash on June 27.
Just this week, Biden reignited concerns when he accidentally referred to Ukrainian President Zelensky as Putin.