Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) declared on Monday that the Republican Party “cannot be allowed to prevail,” reducing it to a gang of conspiracy theorists who seek to suppress votes and engage in “anti-science vaccine rejection.”
“Here is what the modern Republican Party is all about: cult-like devotion to Trump, big lies and conspiracy theories, voter suppression, climate denial and anti-science vaccine rejection,” the Democrat socialist said.
“For the sake of our kids and future generations, they cannot be allowed to prevail,” he continued:
Notably, Sanders did not specifically say how he believes Republicans are engaging in “anti-science vaccine rejection,” although ABC legal analyst Sunny Hostin expressed similar thinking on Monday, accusing Fox News of playing a “key role in disseminating anti-vaccine propaganda.”
It remains unclear what, specifically, prompted Sanders’ wide-ranging, accusatory remark, but it comes amid the battle over radical left’s attempt to pass a long list of Democrat Party agenda items in a reconciliation bill alongside the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) went as far as scheduling an infrastructure vote despite the fact that lawmakers have not seen the text of any bill. That aside, Democrats are also vying to pass radical agenda items, including amnesty and Green New Deal proposals, in a companion reconciliation bill.
“Americans want to see infrastructure like roads, bridges, [and] waterways. They don’t want to see all the extraneous things Democrats are trying to throw at us,” Republican Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) said during an appearance on Breitbart News Saturday over the weekend, explaining what the Democrats are planning to do.
“What they are planning to do, even if the bipartisan infrastructure bill gets done, what they are planning to do is what they are now calling ‘human infrastructure.’ Really what that means? A bunch of socialized programs that will expand what we think of as, you know, like caring for people. They call it the war on poverty, basically,” she explained.
“But simply making people comfortable in poverty doesn’t defeat poverty, but that’s what they’re planning to do, is continue to expand these existing … get people comfortable living with less, reliant upon the government, and then it’s really hard to undo those social welfare programs,” she continued.
“This is an expansion of not only those social welfare programs, but also, as you pointed out, things like the Green New Deal, entirely focusing on electric vehicles rather than continuing to work with the vehicles we have now, expanding that infrastructure, paying for, you know, the grid and updating so we can support those electric vehicles,” Ernst continued, noting Democrats plan to “jam through” a massive $3.5 trillion spending bill through reconciliation “with absolutely no Republicans supporting it.”
Sanders has not been the only one calling on the Democrat caucus to pursue these radical agenda items through the reconciliation process.
“Let me be really clear on this: we will not take up a bill in the House until the Senate passes the bipartisan bill and a reconciliation bill,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said last month, earning approval from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
Ernst said Democrats are engaging in quite a bit of “policy gymnastics” to fit their radical agenda items into a reconciliation package.
“These are policy issues that we need to have debates on, we need to have discussions on,” she added. “It needs to be done in open and transparent manners. They can’t just flip it into a bill, ram it through reconciliation when it is policy.”
