As Bernie Sanders surges in the polls, journalists and media outlets are panicking at a possible general election loss. Now, conveniently, reporters see praising Fidel Castro and cheering socialism as a problem. On Sunday, 60 Minutes correspondent Anderson Cooper called out Sanders for cheering on dictators: “Back in the 1980s, Sanders had some positive things to say about the former Soviet Union and the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. Here he is explaining why the Cuban people didn't rise up and help the U.S. overthrow Cuban leader Fidel Castro.”
Cooper then played a clip of the socialist praising the brutal, thug regime: “He educated their kids, gave them health care, totally transformed the society, you know?” Sanders chided the imprisoning of people, but gushed, “He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing? Even though Fidel Castro did it?”
A bewildered Cooper reminded, “A lot of dissidents [were] imprisoned in Cuba.” Good for CBS for making this point, however, journalists have sounded exactly like Sanders for decades. In October of 2002, ABC’s Barbara Walters traveled to Cuba for an exclusive 20/20 interview with Castro. She fawned, “For Castro, freedom starts with education. And if literacy alone were the yardstick, Cuba would rank as one of the freest nations on Earth.”
But now that Sanders is perceived as a possible 2020 disaster for Democrats, suddenly such talk is shockingly inappropriate. Cooper also echoed the concerns of Michael Bloomberg in calling out Sanders as hypocritical over being a millionaire socialist. He chided:
Though he's campaigning as an advocate for the poor, Bernie Sanders became a millionaire four years ago, thanks largely to royalties from his best-selling book, Our Revolution. His Democratic rivals have given him some grief about it during the debates. You know what they're getting at. They're suggesting the it's hypocritical to criticize the wealthy, say they are not paying their fair share.
Again, conveniently, NOW socialism and its astronomical costs are a problem. Cooper hammered:
There's profound skepticism in Congress about Sanders' ability to get his agenda passed. Two-thirds of Democrats in the Senate have not signed on to "Medicare for All," which would cost an estimated $30 trillion to $40 trillion over ten years. And that's just one of Bernie Sanders' many proposals. There's also free public college, cancellation of all student debt, a federal job guarantee, and a Green New Deal to rapidly reduce carbon emissions. How much will that cost?
As Sanders surges, get ready for journalists to address a lot of conservative concerns they’ve ignored for a very long time. But remember, it’s all in the service of stopping a Democratic disaster in November.
A partial transcript of the 60 Minutes interview is below. Click “expand” to read more:
CBS's 60 Minutes
02/23/2020
7:05 p.m. EasternANDERSON COOPER: Bernie Sanders had an impressive win last night in the Nevada caucuses. He also won in the New Hampshire primary and leads the Democratic field in national polls. It's a stunning turn of events for a man who calls himself a "democratic socialist," and is the first to admit he's been preaching the same populist, progressive message for decades.
As the mayor of Burlington, Vermont, then a U.S. congressman, now an independent senator who caucuses with the Democrats, Sanders has been arguing that the very rich should pay higher taxes so that everyone can have health care, education, and a decent paying job. Sanders is 78 years old, and is filling arenas with huge crowds of young, enthusiastic supporters. He's used to being the underdog, but now, grudgingly, has to admit: in the Democratic race for president, he's the front-runner. After your entire career, to now be the front-runner of the Democratic Party--
BERNIE SANDERS: Yes, that is a bit shocking. I will agree. I will agree with you there.
COOPER: The Democratic Party has moved to you, if anything?
SANDERS: In many ways, they have. And-- and the ideas that seemed radical four years ago are now kind of mainstream.
COOPER: The ideas are still pretty radical. I mean you've been saying with pride that you're making a lot of people nervous. You said, "Wall Street's getting nervous, the insurance industry's getting nervous, drug companies are getting nervous, and the Democratic establishment is getting nervous."
SANDERS: Yep, that's what I said.
SANDERS AT A RALLY: You know what? They should be getting nervous!
COOPER: You're also making, though, a lot of Democratic voters nervous.
SANDERS: I don't think so. I-- look, you know, you have a lot of candidates out there. And each candidate has his or her supporters.
COOPER: But a lot of voters are voting for candidates who aren't calling for Medicare for All, who aren't calling for a revolution. Is everybody really wanting a revolution like that?
SANDERS: Yeah, let's go easy on the word — "political revolution", you know? We're-- we're trying to follow—
COOPER: You're the one who's using the word.
SANDERS: Well, I mean, you know, but I don't want people, you know, to overstate that. But here is the point. It's not good enough to complain, "Oh, I cannot afford my health care. I can't afford childcare. I can't afford to send my kid to college. I'm paying half of my income in rent." You know? If you're not happy about that, you got to be involved in the political process. Only millions of people standing up for justice can bring about the kind of change that this country requires. And I believe that has got to happen.
...
COOPER: Back in the 1980s, Sanders had some positive things to say about the former Soviet Union and the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. Here he is explaining why the Cuban people didn't rise up and help the U.S. overthrow Cuban leader Fidel Castro:
SANDERS: He educated their kids, gave them health care, totally transformed the society, you know?
SANDERS: We're very opposed to the authoritarian nature of Cuba but you know, it's unfair to simply say everything is bad. You know? When Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing? Even though Fidel Castro did it?
COOPER: A lot of dissidents imprisoned in Cuba.
SANDERS: That's right. And we condemn that. Unlike Donald Trump, let's be clear, you want to-- I do not think that Kim Jong Un is a good friend. I don't trade love letters with a murdering dictator. Vladimir Putin, not a great friend of mine.
...
COOPER: There's profound skepticism in Congress about Sanders' ability to get his agenda passed. Two-thirds of Democrats in the Senate have not signed on to "Medicare for All," which would cost an estimated $30 trillion to $40 trillion over ten years. And that's just one of Bernie Sanders' many proposals. There's also free public college, cancellation of all student debt, a federal job guarantee, and a Green New Deal to rapidly reduce carbon emissions. How much will that cost?
...
COOPER: Do you know how all-- how much though? I mean, do you have a price tag for-- for all of this?
SANDERS: We do. I mean, you know, and-- and-- the price tag is-- it will be substantially less than letting the current system go. I think it's about $30 trillion.
COOPER: That's just for Medicare for All, you're talking about?
SANDERS: That's just Medicare for All, yes.
COOPER: Do you have-- a price tag for all of these things?
SANDERS: No, I don't. We try to-- no, you mentioned making public colleges and universities tuition free and cancelling all student debt, that's correct. That's what I want to do. We pay for that through a modest tax on Wall Street speculation.
COOPER: But you say you don't know what the total price is, but you know how it's gonna be paid for. How do you know it's gonna be paid for if you don't know how much the price is?
...
COOPER: Though he's campaigning as an advocate for the poor, Bernie Sanders became a millionaire four years ago, thanks largely to royalties from his best-selling book, "Our Revolution." His Democratic rivals have given him some grief about it during the debates.
You know what they're getting at. They're-- they're suggesting the it's hypocritical to criticize the wealthy, say they are not paying their fair share.SANDERS: We pay our fair share of taxes.
