Thread by @mehdirhasan

I interviewed Bernie Sanders for my #Deconstructed podcast today. We discussed climate change, Medicare For All, Biden, Warren, Trump and more.

Here's a thread on some of the things he said that stood out to me. 1/
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Bernie was pretty sharp in his criticism of Joe Biden's record, especially on Iraq: "Joe Biden not only voted for the war in Iraq, something that I vigorously opposed, he was one of the leaders in terms of going to war." 2/
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"What you're seeing is somebody who raises a whole of of money from the wealthy and the powerful, somebody who touts in many ways the corporate line." - Bernie on Biden to me 3/
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Bernie, to me, also doubled down on his criticism of Elizabeth Warren's Medicare For All plan: "When you're putting what amounts to a $9,500 'head tax' on a company that is hiring workers for 40 or 50 000 dollars, that's quite a hit. Quite a hit." 4/
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However, when I asked Bernie if billionaires should fear Elizabeth Warren too, and not just him, he said: "Yeah, I think they should be as well." He didn't think they'd fear Biden :-) 5/
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"if I am fortunate to become the Democratic nominee...I would look absolutely to Elizabeth Warren as somebody who would play a very, very important role in everything we're doing." - Bernie's response, when I asked if he'd make Elizabeth Warren his VP 6/
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But Bernie wouldn't, at this point, "rule out" an all-white or an all-male Dem presidential ticket. He would only say: "My administration and my cabinet will look like America. It will be the most diverse administration...this country has ever seen." 7/
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I asked Bernie if he could see himself serving 2 terms and ending his presidency aged 87 (!)

He replied: "Let me win first before we talk about re-election. I'l talk to you about re-election in a year or two." Interesting. 8/

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"I share the paranoia of many people. Trump is a pathological liar and a very dangerous person. Trump will accept the election results...when I defeat him. - Bernie's reply, when I shared my concern that Trump won't accept defeat next November. 9/
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"I'm very proud that we have received more individual contributions from more people than any candidate in the history of American politics at this point in a presidential race." - a happy Bernie, to me, on this week's #Deconstructed.
Listen:
*ENDS*
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