Last night at the Democratic National Convention, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders urged Americans to support Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for president.
Pretty simple? Well, maybe not.
Any astute observer knows that Sanders has a notoriously tense relationship with the Democratic establishment and has so far been sparing with praise for Harris’s campaign.
Meanwhile, the constituencies where Sanders has polled strongly for years — young people, minorities and progressives — were among the weak spots in President Joe Biden’s coalition that led many Democrats to clamor for his replacement.
Now, 75 days before the election, those same Democrats are betting that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz can shore up those key factions and are asking Bernie for help.
With that in mind, Playbook co-author and Deep Dive host Ryan Lizza spoke with Sanders on CNN-Politico Grill to get a more honest reflection on Harris’ campaign than you’ll hear in a DNC stump speech.
In their conversation, they discussed whether she thinks Joe Biden should have stepped aside in the first place; how Democrats can win back young people, minorities and progressives; as well as where she agrees with Harris’ policies and where she thinks she needs to get a little closer to him to win.