Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders continues a four-day swing through Wisconsin Friday with stops in the northern half of the state.
The Independent who caucuses with Democrats remains a supporter of incumbent Joe Biden in this year’s presidential election.
But he told a roundtable Thursday at a Milwaukee union hall that he understands some voters, especially younger people, who aren’t enthusiastic about Biden or expected GOP nominee Donald Trump.
“But what I’m asking here is for a level of, I don’t know if maturity is the right word, but an understanding that if you’re not voting for Biden, especially in a state like Wisconsin, which is thought to be very close, in a certain sense, you are voting for Trump," Sanders said.
Sanders said Trump is worse than Biden on several issues, including the Hamas-Israel conflict. Sanders said he doesn’t like Biden’s backing of military aid for Israel but contends Trump is an even bigger supporter of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Sanders also said Biden is better than Trump in terms of women’s rights, health care, Social Security, climate change and financial help for students.
Barbara Miner is one of the people who asked Sanders a question. She said she liked his answer about engaging younger voters and said she’s doing the same by making art stickers about the importance of voting.
“You gotta kind of meet young people where they’re at, and they don’t read newspaper columns too much," Miner says.
JoAnn Rucker asked about preserving Social Security and likes that Sander— and Biden —talk about raising the amount of money people can make before they stop paying into the retirement and disability benefits program.
While a Marquette University poll released this week suggested Trump voters have more enthusiasm than Biden backers, Rucker says she’s ready to be active for the Democrat.
“Oh yes, yes, very active, I’m sure. Doing signs, getting on the phone, writing postcards, yep," she said.
Rucker and other Biden supporters may need to work hard. The Marquette poll also showed Biden ahead of Trump by only two percentage points among likely Wisconsin voters and tied among registered voters.
The Wisconsin GOP says with high costs under Biden "plaguing the economy, the last person Wisconsinites want to hear from is tax and spend Socialist Bernie Sanders."
