Sanders Doubles Down On Castro Praise, Hails Communist China For 'Lifting More People Out of Poverty'

Brittany M. Hughes | February 25, 2020
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After catching more than a little flak for praising Cuban dictator Fidel Castro’s literacy program as some sort of highlight in an otherwise brutal and oppressive communist regime that destroyed a nation, democratic socialist and 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders doubled down on his comments, standing firm on his assertion that Castro did some good things for the society he ultimately drove into the ground.

When pressed by CNN’s Chris Cuomo on why he’d throw a bone to an oppressive government that impoverished its own people and slaughtered political dissidents, Sanders claimed that “truth is truth.”

"Truth is truth. All right?” the Democrat senator said during a CNN town hall in Charleston, South Carolina, on Monday. “If you want to disagree with me, if somebody wants to say that — and by the way all of the Congress people you mentioned just so happen to be supporting other candidates…but you know, the truth is the truth. And that is what happened on the first years of the Castro regime."
 


Sanders then one-upped himself, going on to praise the oppressive communist government in China for “taking more people out of extreme poverty.”

"China is an authoritarian country, becoming more and more authoritarian," Sanders said. "But can anyone deny, the facts are clear, that they have taken more people out of extreme poverty than any country in history?"

"I think teaching people to read and write is a good thing. I have been extremely consistent and critical of all authoritarian regimes all over the world including Cuba, including Nicaragua, including Saudi Arabia, including China, including Russia. I happen to believe in democracy, not authoritarianism."

Of course, Sanders conveniently omits the fact that it was the very authoritarian nature of both the Cuban and Chinese regimes that forced people into literacy camps and seized control of the entire economy to redistribute wealth, illustrating that compulsory societal change only comes at the point of a government gun, and at the loss of personal liberty.

 

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