Bernie Sanders hits back at Barack Obama insisting he is ‘not tearing down the system’ after the former president warned Democrat White House hopefuls not to alienate voters by veering too far to the left
- Obama made comments in room of Democratic donors in Washington on Friday
- Sanders said his healthcare goals shouldn’t be seen as ‘tearing down system’
- Fears of far-left Democrat nominee alienating public have circulated for months
Bernie Sanders has hit back at Barack Obama by insisting he is ‘not tearing down the system’ after the former president warned against alienating voters by veering too far to the left.
Although Obama didn’t mention anyone specifically, it is believed that his word of warning was directed at the candidacies of Senator Sander and Elizabeth Warren.
The former president made the comments in front of a room of Democratic donors in Washington on Friday.
Sanders and Warren have recently called for structural changes and policies which would drastically change the role of the US government in its citizens’ lives.
Although Obama didn’t mention anyone specifically, it is believed that his word of warning was directed at the candidacies of Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders
Fears of a far-left nominee alienating moderate Republicans have circulated for months.
According to the New York Times, Obama said: ‘The average American doesn’t think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it. And I think it’s important for us not to lose sight of that.’
The 58-year-old further told the crowd that a winning coalition of voters will not be driven by ‘certain left-leaning Twitter feeds’ or ‘the activist wing of our party.’
Sanders told a forum in Long Beach that he is ‘not tearing down the system’.
He added: ‘When I talk about health care being a human right and ending the embarrassment of America being the only major country on earth that does not guarantee health care for every man, woman and child, that’s not tearing down the system.
‘That’s doing what we should have done 30 years ago.’
Bernie Sanders said: ‘When I talk about health care being a human right and ending the embarrassment of America being the only major country on earth that does not guarantee health care for every man, woman and child, that’s not tearing down the system. That’s doing what we should have done 30 years ago’
Sanders and Warren (pictured) have recently called for structural changes and policies which would drastically change the role of the US government in its citizens’ lives
Cory Booker, a New Jersey senator and 2020 candidate called for Democrats to ‘stop tearing each other down’.
He said: ‘Whoever is the nominee, we have one shot to make Donald Trump a one-term president.
‘And so I’m not interested in delineating left or right or criticizing other folks.’
Another 2020 candidate, Julian Castro, said he believes that any of the Democratic nominees would be better than Trump.
Obama said he felt impelled to talk on the topic because he believes some of the party’s loudest voices aren’t representative of where most in the party are at.
He said: ‘There are a lot of persuadable voters and there are a lot of Democrats out there who just want to see things make sense. They just don’t want to see crazy stuff.
‘They want to see things a little more fair, they want to see things a little more just. And how we approach that I think will be important.’