Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) isn’t extreme enough for the far-left, according to a Democratic writer.
Sanders, it seems, was used as a transition to get left-leaning Americans to embrace socialism, and now his usefulness is declining among the far-left.
“While Sanders still draws a crowd, his endorsements don’t carry as much weight as left-leaning voters may hope,” wrote the New Republic’s Sarah Jones. “…Sanders and his supporters have helped push the Democrats to the left, but the party has yet to truly embrace its left flank.”
The self-described “democratic socialist” doesn’t fully embrace his ideology because he stops short of demanding the “nationalization of private industries,” Jones writes.
Other leftists share Jones’ sentiment, blasting Sanders over the past week for not demanding the end of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Sanders’ aversion to abolishing ICE triggered similar rebuke from other journalists and outlets on the left, with some even denouncing the self-described Democratic socialist as a ‘neoliberal,’ a term generally reserved for those who favor free-market capitalism above all else, and as a ‘moderate,'” reported the Washington Free Beacon.
This emerging far-left wing of the Democratic Party, highlighted in part by the election of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is too much for even CNNapparently, which criticized the ‘Abolish ICE’ movement.
“With Democrats attacking ICE, the administration has been given an opening to paint its opponents as extreme, radical and a threat to national security,” CNN’s Julian Zelizer said. “Even though we are long overdue for a rigorous debate over our immigration system, a call to abolish anything makes it sound as if the proponents want the entire system to go away.”
For once, CNN isn’t entirely spinning the news.
Despite Sander’s popularity, he was never fully inside the Overton window. In fact, his entire presidential campaign was to try and shift the window towards American acceptance of socialism.
That partly explains why he gives nuanced answers when asked if he supports ending ICE.
This, of course, enrages far-leftists, but unlike Sanders, they’re outside the Overton window – for now.