Ex-Sanders Aide Lambasts Joe Biden’s VP Search: Progressives ‘Need Not Apply’
A former top adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) is accusing Joe Biden’s campaign of ignoring credible progressive candidates in its search for a vice presidential nominee.
Nina Turner, a onetime Ohio state senator who co-chaired Sanders’ failed 2020 campaign,
told Hill.TV’s
Rising on Thursday that the current makeup of Biden’s running mate
shortlist signaled he was not serious about uniting progressive behind his candidacy.
“If you are a progressive, you need not apply, that’s just the bottom line here,” Turner said, noting that Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), a progressive former chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, was being omitted from consideration despite her
qualifications for the role. “No one should be surprised by this, certainly [former] Vice President Joe Biden has the right to pick whomever he decides to. However, there is a component within the mainstream Democratic Party that has a disdain for progressives.”
The former Sanders co-chair further claimed that progressives had to understand the current moment, defined by protests against police brutality and systemic racism in response to the death of George Floyd, was unlikely to be permanent.
“This woke crowd, this is just temporary, this is just an illusion,” Turner said. “This moment is forcing any of the Black women that you see even being mentioned … for the vice-presidential slot, they are being mentioned because of the bubbling up of the grassroots.”
Ex-Sanders Aide Slams Biden's VP Search: Progressives 'Need Not Apply'