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- Bernie Sanders said that despite "strong differences," Biden was the "clear" choice to be the Democrats' nominee.
- It may be a 2020 election rematch against Trump, but Sanders said Biden has the opportunity to "win in a landslide."
- Biden announced his official bid for re-election last week.
Sen. Bernie Sanders is once again asking you to support President Joe Biden.
Despite a history of political differences and campaign challenges, the Vermont senator is backing Biden's 2024 re-election campaign.
"If you believe in democracy, and you want to see more people vote, not fewer people vote, I think the choice is pretty clear, and that choice is Biden," Sanders said on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.
Sanders first endorsed Biden on Tuesday, almost immediately after the president officially announced his candidacy for 2024. The launch of Biden's campaign came after months of skepticism about the president's age — he's 80 — and fitness for office from within his own party.
Sanders, who is 81, said that voters have to "consider a lot" when examining a candidate.
"I think age is one thing. I think experience is another thing. I think your record that you have established is another thing," Sanders said on Sunday. "When you put it all together, what you have to look at is, what does the candidate stand for? Which side are they on?"
—CNN (@CNN) April 30, 2023
Sanders, an independent who sides with Democrats, said some of his Republican counterparts appear to no longer believe in democracy.
"Look, it is no great secret that I ran against Biden. It's no great secret that he and I have strong differences of opinion," Sanders said. "But when we live in a nation where you have a major political party, the Republican Party, where many, not all, but many of their leadership doesn't even believe in democracy, they maintain the myth that Trump won the last election, they're trying to keep people from voting, they're trying to deny women the right to control their own bodies, so that's a whole issue out there."
Former President Donald Trump announced his own bid for re-election last year, and early polls indicate the possibility of a 2020 election rematch between him and Biden. Those polls – which should be taken with a grain of salt at this point in a long election season – show Biden ahead of Trump.
"The Democrats and the president have got to be stronger on working-class issues," Sanders said on Sunday. "You do that, and I think Biden is going to win in a landslide."