Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said Sunday that the current state of the United States economy is "certainly" not the strongest it can be, though he continued to pledge his support for President Joe Biden's reelection.
Sanders, a former presidential candidate, defended Biden as many have expressed discontent with the president's handling of the economy, with a recent poll showing that 61% of respondents have disapproved of Biden's approach to the issue. While Sanders admitted the economy could be improved, he added that progressives need to rally behind supporting Biden to maintain democracy in the United States, as former President Donald Trump is "not somebody who believes in democracy," he said during an appearance on CNN's State of the Union.
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"I think we’ve got to bring the entire progressive community to defeat Trump or whoever the Republican nominee will be, support Biden," said Sanders. "But at the same time, which is what I did yesterday, is demand that the Democratic Party, not just Biden, have the guts to take on corporate greed and the massive levels of income and wealth inequality that we see today."
Sanders also said that in order for Biden to win the 2024 election, he should lean into a progressive message to gain support. A few steps Biden could do to achieve this is by touting "his very good record" and to "deal with the reality of life today."
"And that is to understand that we have massive levels of corporate greed in every part of society," said Sanders.
The Vermont senator criticized the Republican Party during his appearance, claiming it was "absurd" that the party is gaining support among the working class, and argued the reason was that Democrats were not progressive enough.
The state of the economy has been a major focus point in recent polling, as 48% of “likely U.S. voters” felt that Biden losing the next presidential election would be good for the country’s economy, according to a recent poll. The Biden administration has introduced the term "Bidenomics" to represent his economic priorities, though only 34% of adults in a recent poll said the economy is very good or somewhat good.
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On Sunday, a member of Biden's 2024 campaign was asked what the administration's response was to Biden's low approval ratings on the economy, in which he claimed that the party would "have to keep telling" the public "what we're doing."
"But I think that how you ask the question, the question you ask, you're going to get very different answers," said Cedric Richmond, Biden's 2024 campaign co-chair. "But when you hear so many people say that they're satisfied with their income right now, that they're very satisfied with their job, we think that's very telling. When you throw the word, just economy in a broad sense, you get a different response."