Bernie Sanders Announces Second Presidential Bid

by TMO Staff

Bernie Sanders, 77, launched his second consecutive presidential campaign on Tuesday. Sanders was runner-up in the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries, losing to Hilary Clinton.

He tweeted, “I’m running for president because, now more than ever, we need leadership that brings us together – not divides us up.”

The Vermont Senator, who was re-elected to the Senate in 2018, also stated on his twitter, “What’s crazy is that we have a president who is a racist, a sexist, a xenophobe and a fraud. We are going to bring people together and not only defeat Trump but transform the economic and political life of this country.”

In less than 12 hours of his announcement to run, donations and signups from 120,000 individual donors in all 50 states totaled $3.3 million, informed an aide to CNN.

The amount raised reached $6 million in just over 24 hours as reported by the New York Times. Keeping in mind that Sanders raised well over $200 million in his last presidential bid per the New York Times, his fundraising success early on in this bid is no surprise.

The self-proclaimed socialist hopes to focus on pushing for a tuition-free college education, ending gun violence, guaranteeing health care for all and improving international cooperation in the fight against climate change.

According to the New York Times, his progressive agenda has gained more support since his last 2016 campaign. It has been embraced by other Democrats as well.

Chief executive of the political group Democracy for America Yvette Simpson said, “A lot of people still believe that he is the one who can take Trump out.”

However, the progressive field has gotten more crowded with other candidates such as Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. How Sanders will “distinguish himself in that bigger field” is the question now.

In regards to Sanders embarking the 2020 presidential election, President Donald Trump also tweeted, “Crazy Bernie has just entered the race. I wish him well!”