Some progressive Democrats are upset with Vice President Kamala Harris’ decision to lean on Liz Cheney in the weeks ahead of the election, suggesting the vice president should focus more on her Democratic base.
“The truth of the matter is that there are a hell of a lot more working-class people who could vote for Kamala Harris than there are conservative Republicans,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT., told the Associated Press.
Cheney, an anti-Trump Republican, has appeared on the campaign trail with Harris several times. Other progressive leaders, such as Sanders or Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have been “relegated to low-profile roles,” according to the AP.
“She has to start talking more to the needs of working-class people,” Sanders told the AP. “I wish this had taken place two months ago. It is what it is.”
CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Bernie Sanders on Sunday why VP Kamala Harris was campaigning with Liz Cheney and not him. (Screenshot/CNN)
“There’s been an odd disconnect between the campaign’s economic populist ad strategy and the event strategy that focuses almost exclusively on Liz Cheney kumbaya optics that depress the base right as voting begins and don’t provably win more swing voters than bread-and-butter issues,” Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, told the AP.
However, Green praised the Harris campaign for focusing their ads on grocery prices and economics.
Joseph Geevarghese, the executive director of the progressive group Our Revolution, told the AP that 10% of progressives might not vote for Harris and warned some might vote for Trump.
“We just want to raise a red flag. Don’t take the progressive movement for granted,” Geevarghese said. “There’s got to be an economic argument at the end of the day. That’s the No. 1 thing that matters to voters.”
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a rally in Houston, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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Sanders was pressed by Jake Tapper on Sunday about why Harris was out campaigning with Cheney, as opposed to himself.
“What does it say that Kamala Harris is starting this week with only 16 days left, campaigning with Liz Cheney, a very conservative former congresswoman, daughter of Dick Cheney, obviously, but she has not yet held a public campaign event with you, arguably the leader of the progressive movement in the United States?” Tapper asked.
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Sanders said that it had to do with “people really disgusted with Trump’s constant lying with his attempt to prevent the first peaceful transition of power” and his “undermining of American democracy.”
Sanders has campaigned for Harris but has not appeared with the vice president on the trail.
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.