Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) called out the real reason why Sen. Kyrsten Sinema left the Democratic Party and called her a corporate Democrat who sabotaged important legislation.
Video of Sen. Sanders:
Like This Story? Get More In Our Newsletter:
On CNN’s State Of The Union, Dana Bash asked Sanders about Sinema, and he responded:
I don’t want to spend a whole lot of time on Senator Sinema. She has her reasons. Dana, I happen to suspect it’s a lot to do with politics back in Arizona. I think the Democrats there are not all that enthusiastic about somebody who helped sabotage some of the most important legislation that protects the interests of working families and voting rights and so forth. So I think it really has to do with her political aspirations for the future in Arizona.
But for us, I think nothing much has changed in terms of the functions of the U.S. Senate. The good news is we now have 51 votes, and we’ll have a majority on committees. It means we can start protecting working families’ interests and deal with the reality that we’re increasingly living in an oligarchy where the billionaire class and large corporations control almost every aspect of our country. I would hope very much with this new majority Democrats will constituent down and start fighting for the needs of ordinary Americans.
Bash later asked Sanders if Sinema has the guts to take on powerful special interests, and he answered, “No, she doesn’t. She’s a corporate Democrat who has along with Senator Manchin sabotaged enormously important legislation.”
Everyone outside of CNN seems to understand that Sinema’s decision was about saving her seat. All of the reasons that she has given about not being tethered by partisanship are campaign ads for 2024.
Sen. Sinema was going to be challenged and defeated in a 2024 Arizona Senate primary.
Her only choice was to go Independent or lose her seat.
CNN thought that they had a big scoop, but for Democrats, nothing has changed, and their Senate majority remains intact.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
Discussion about this post