Sanders Dodges on Support for Exec Amnesty

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) declined to say whether he supports the president’s plan to implement immigration reform through an executive order on Thursday’s “Wolf” on CNN.

When Sanders was asked what he thought of House Speaker John Boehner’s warning that an executive order on immigration would ruin the prospects of any immigration reform, he responded “well, my reaction is the people of this country overwhelmingly want to see the minimum wage raised. Is the Republican Party going to do what the American people want? The American people do not want more tax breaks to the wealthy and large corporations. Is the Republican Party going to poison the well by going forward at a time of massive wealth and income equality, giving more tax breaks to people who don’t need it? I think what Boehner is talking about is just a political attack on the president.”

When Blitzer pressed Sanders on whether he would support the president if he took unilateral action on immigration, Sanders said “look, what I support is Congress and the president doing everything they can to address the serious problems facing the American people. Immigration is one of those issues. In the Senate, we passed a bipartisan bill. The House did nothing. Let’s do something together. That’s the preferable route.”

He then again pivoted to talking about income inequality, stating “but most importantly, let’s not turn our backs on the middle class of this country and ignore the enormous economic problems they are facing. Let’s not simply work for the rich and the big campaign contributors who control the United States Congress. If we can do that and respond to needs and the pain of the American people, you know what? I think you’ll suddenly find that congress is regarded a lot more favorably than is currently the case.”

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