Bernie Sanders i bar overkrop under bryllupsrejse i Sovjetunionen, 13. juni 1988)

I torsdagens BT kan manlæse, at Bernie Sanders repræsenterer Demokraternes ‘progressive fløj’ (s. 13). Progressiv defineres af Ordnet som ‘fremskridtsvenlig’, en der ‘tænker på en ny, original og fremadrettet måde’. Progressiv kan også bruges i betydningen ‘orienteret mod det der anses for moderne, rigtigt eller smart’, men uanset hvilken definition man anvender, så er Bernie Sanders ikke progressiv. Han er noget nær det modsatte.

Fra Washington Examiner – Bernie Sanders in 1972: ‘I don’t mind people calling me a communist’.

“President Trump’s recent jab at Bernie Sanders, calling him ‘a communist,’ was meant as an insult. But the 2020 Democratic front-runner and Vermont senator might not have taken it that way.

In 1972, Sanders, then a gubernatorial protest candidate for the socialist Liberty Union Party, visited an alternative high school in Rutland, Vermont, to give his campaign pitch. During a question-and-answer session, Sanders, then 31, brushed off accusations of being a left-wing radical.

‘I don’t mind people coming up and calling me a communist,’ Sanders said. ‘At least, they’re still alive.’ …

Although Sanders has refrained from self-identifying as a communist, his ties with far-left Marxist groups go back decades.

The Washington Examiner reported last May on his ties with far-left political parties such as the Socialist Workers Party. During his time as mayor of Burlington, Vermont, he littered his office with newspapers and pamphlets from revolutionary organizations.

In 1980 and 1984, Sanders endorsed SWP presidential candidates Andrew Pulley and Mel Mason. Their presidential platforms included promises to dismantle the entire U.S. military and nationalize most industries.

Sanders was later investigated by the FBI concerning his ties to the SWP, although charges were never brought.”

“From the Soviet Union, to China, to Cuba, to Nicaragua, to Venezuela, Bernie Sanders has never met a communist regime he didn’t praise, regimes that killed millions of people in the 20th century.” (Greg Price, 12. februar 2020)