'What do people stand for?': Bernie Sanders says there are 'broader issues' beyond Joe Biden's age in 2024

Ken Tran, USA TODAY
Sun, August 27, 2023 

WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Sunday defended President Joe Biden against concerns about his age as the president’s physical and mental capabilities to serve still remain top of mind for voters, saying Biden’s age is not as much of a concern as other key Democratic and progressive priorities.

“When people look at a candidate, whether he’s Joe Biden, or (former President Donald) Trump, or Bernie Sanders, anybody else, they have to evaluate a whole lot of factors,” Sanders said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” adding he met with Biden weeks ago, and “he seemed fine to me.”

“But I think at the end of the day, what we have to ask ourselves is, ‘What do people stand for?’” Sanders said.

“Do you believe that women have a right to control their own bodies?” Sanders said, referencing Biden’s efforts to protect and expand abortion rights. “Well, the president has been strong on that.”

Other issues, such as climate change, a federal minimum wage hike and reforms to prescription drug prices, could be more important to voters than Biden’s age, Sanders noted. "There are a lot of broader issues than just (age)," Sanders said.

Concerns about Biden’s age have also been swirling within the Democratic party. Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., has called for more competition in the Democratic presidential primary while he is also mulling a long-shot bid himself.

The Vermont progressive, who was one of Biden’s major opponents in the 2020 Democratic primary, has sought to unite progressives behind the president ahead of the 2024 election.

“I think that we have got to bring the entire progressive community, (to) defeat Trump or whoever the Republican nominee will be, (to) support Biden,” Sanders said on CNN’s “State of the Union.

At the same time, Sanders said, progressives can “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.”

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks to the media outside of the White House on July 17, 2023 in Washington, DC.