Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 01:49 pm
During an interview on MSNBC, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) demonstrated his honesty and integrity by explaining why he won’t rip off taxpayers by blowing off his work in the Senate in order to run for president.
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Transcript via MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports:
MITCHELL: Let me ask you a final question about a Republican, Marco Rubio. He has said that he hates being in the Senate; he has missed 42 percent of his votes since declaring his candidacy. You have missed, by our count, only 4 percent of your votes. What is it about being in the Senate — and you’re in the minority, he’s in the majority — what is it you find fulfilling and why do you keep showing up for work?
SANDERS: Well, that’s kind of what I’m paid to do. My job is what I’m paid to do right now is to represent the people of the State of Vermont in the United States Senate. That’s what I do. I will miss votes but I’m trying to miss as few as I possibly can. I am extraordinarily proud to represent my great state in the Senate. We’re working very hard on a number of issues. And while it is difficult and very time-consuming to be a full-time candidate and to be a full-time senator, that is at the moment what I’m trying to do.
Compare the honest answer of Sen. Sanders with the excuses offered up by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) for his missed votes, “A lot of these votes don’t mean anything. They’re not going to pass, and even if they did, the President would veto them.”
Bernie Sanders has better polling numbers, raises more money, and is the more legitimate candidate for president than Marco Rubio, and he still manages to make 96% of the votes in the Senate.
As Sarah Jones wrote in her comparison of the voting records of Sanders and Rubio, “Senator Bernie Sanders, the Democratic Socialist, is leading the pack of those who run for President and still manage to vote. Cruz is next. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is not currently in office; she left in 2012 in what many saw as preparation for running for President. Let’s just repeat that – the “Socialist” is the one showing up to work, while Republicans pretend that everyone who isn’t a Republican refuses to work.”
Sen. Sanders is demonstrating that he is a public servant who is willing to place the work that the taxpayers elected him to do ahead of his presidential campaign. Sen. Rubio is the exact opposite. Rubio is acting in bad faith by placing his personal political ambitions ahead of his oath of office.
Only one of these candidates has demonstrated the kind of honesty and integrity that is worthy of the support of voters, and it isn’t Marco Rubio. Sen. Bernie Sanders gave Rubio a lesson in public service, but it is a safe bet that his example will fall on deaf ears.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
