Democratic presidential candidate and self-described democratic socialist Sen. Bernard Sanders said Tuesday that American voters will stop being afraid of socialism and embrace it once he explains how many government benefits they would get.
“Our job is to make people aware that programs like Social Security, Medicare, the National Park system, which is a wonderful system, are publicly-owned programs,” Mr. Sanders said on NBC’s “Today.”
He was pressed to explained his socialist views and his call for a political revolution in America by co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, who said that some voters “think it sounds scary.”
The senator said that people won’t be afraid when they find out other major countries guarantee health care as a right, provide paid family and medical leave to workers and offer government-sponsored college education.
“I think once we get these issues out and talk about creating a government and programs that work for ordinary people rather than just the very wealthy, I think people will understand what we are talking about,” he said.
Mr. Sanders, a Vermont independent running on a far-left agenda that includes expanding Social Security and free college tuition at public colleges and universities, stands as the chief rival to front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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