Bernie Sanders Acknowledges Democrats Stalled Trump COVID Relief, Agrees It Was Mistake

Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday acknowledged that Democrats stalled coronavirus relief in the past and agreed it was a mistake in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper.

Sanders lambasted the Democratic Party for looking to accept a $908 billion COVID-19 stimulus while having rejected a larger $1.8 trillion stimulus spearheaded by President Donald Trump earlier in the pandemic, according to Fox News. The bill which is currently in deliberation will not include $1,200 payments to all Americans as the previous relief package would have, Fox reported.

“Well you talked about that $1.8 trillion bill that the White House — Steve Manuchin the Treasury Secretary — was working on with the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,” Tapper said. “The Democrats walked away from that bill…”

To which Sanders responded, “That’s right.”

Tapper continued, “…because they wanted $2.2 trillion and they walked away from $1.8 trillion. Was that a mistake?”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Sanders said. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. Here was a proposal much, much larger. Democrats say ‘no, that’s not good enough,’ and now we’re prepared to accept a proposal which has, I think, $350 billion in new money, and which has, we believe, I believe to the best of my knowledge, this corporate immunity language as well.”

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The $908 billion package is set to give $240 billion in aid to states and respective localities, $300 billion to small business relief through the Paycheck Protection Program and $180 billion to extend increased unemployment payments, according to Fox.

Sanders, however, doesn’t see the bill as a compromise.

“What we need is a compromise,” he told Tapper. “I know I can’t get everything that I want. But this bill really is not a compromise. It gives the Republicans almost everything that they wanted.”