Senator Bernie Sanders stopped by The Breakfast Club to go in depth about his 2020 presidential election campaign with Charlamagne, DJ Envy, and Angela Yee. The presidential hopeful touched on a variety of important topics during his interview, including his opinions on reparations for descendants of slaves, how he'll handle prison form, why he believes in raising taxes, and whether he has a campaign agenda for black citizens.
Since losing the democratic primary to Hilary Clinton back in 2016, many people have wondered whether Senator Sanders would throw his hat in the rink for the 2020 race. The 77-year-old politician officially announced his bid for President of the United States last week and revealed why he decided to launch another campaign. For Senator Sanders, it's simple: he believes he's the best candidate for the job. He wants to continue what the "revolution" started in 2016 by taking on the big banks, the political establishment, and raising minimum wage to $15 nationwide.
Now that Senator Sanders is officially running again, what will his campaign do differently this time around? His first order of business is ensuring he builds a more diverse team around him. According to the Vermont Senator, his cabinet "will look like America" with "more representation" for women and different races.
Senator Sanders also broken down what, exactly, his platform for the 2020 election will be. Free tuition and healthcare are two issues he's really focusing on. As for how he plans to pay for that? Senator Sanders says we're already "spending twice as much per capita than anyone else on Earth. Canada guarantees that, God for bid you get cancer, that you don't pay out of pocket for it. Their system is simpler. We're already paying for it." He also says that fully funding public colleges will take $900 billion over a 10 year period, which isn't as much as Trump allows in tax breaks for the top 1% of Americans.
Another focus for the Sanders 2020 campaign will be prison reform. Senator Sanders wants America to ask why we, as a nation, have more people in jail than any other country. He also credits the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as the ACLU, for getting more people in office who want to stop mass incarceration. He believes in ending the private prison system and that people should not be able to profit from putting people in jail.
Senator Sanders also spoke on his agenda for black people this time around. He wants to eradicate systemic racism in this country by focusing on education disparity, criminal justice inequality, and financial inequality. He spoke on the 10/20/30 policy, which focuses federal resources on the most distressed communities in America, and would like to expand on that if he's elected.
Finally, Senator Sanders revealed whether he supports reparations being given to descendants of slaves. While he states he believes in dealing with systemic racism through new, progressive policies, such as 10/20/30, he does not believe direct reparations should be distributed. One recommendation Senator Sanders suggested is legalizing marijuana and pardoning any previous weed-related crimes. The criminalization of marijuana has largely affected black Americans and legalizing it will lead to a less racist country.
The hardest part of campaigning is when the race turns ugly. For the 2020 campaign, Senator Sanders hopes the democrats can put up a united front against personal attacks from the other side of the aisle. "They can't debate on the issues regarding racism or sexism so they try to rip you apart. They bring up dirt and lie. Sometimes it's your own colleagues, they can be forced to say bad things," he explained. "I hope we can focus on the issues."
As for Trump, though, Senator Sanders has no problem calling him out. "He's a racist, big, liar, and he tried to throw 32 million people off of health care," Senator Sanders said. "But the ugliest thing about him, it's unprecedented...he actively tries to divide the country."
Do you support Senator Sanders on his bid for the presidency?