Bernie Sanders Invited to Speak at the Vatican — ‘I Am a Big, Big Fan of the Pope’

Friday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, revealed he had been invited to speak at the Vatican about economics.

Sanders, a self-described socialist, told “Morning Joe” he was a fan of Pope Francis and that although he disagreed with him on some issues, he believed the Pope was attempting to “inject a sense of morality into how we do economics.”

“I was very moved by the invitation, which was just made public today,” Sanders said. “I am a big, big fan of the Pope. Obviously, there are areas where we disagree – on women’s rights, on gay rights. He has played an unbelievable role – an unbelievable role of injecting a moral consequence into the economy. And here’s what he is saying – people think Bernie Sanders is radical – nah uh, read what the Pope is writing. What he is saying is that we not only have to pay attention to the dispossessed, and again, we don’t talk about it enough – the children who do not have jobs all over the world – youth unemployment is off the charts.”

“The elderly people who are watching this program are trying to get by on $11,000 a year,” he continued. “We don’t talk about that. He’s basically talking about the idolatry of money, the worship of money, the greed that’s out there, how our whole culture is based on ‘I keep working more and more and more.’ And I don’t have to worry about veterans sleeping out on the street or elderly people who can’t afford their prescription drugs. And he’s trying to inject a sense of morality into how we do economics.

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