Ari Melber Says Biden Increasingly Sounds Like ‘The New Bernie’

MSNBC’s Ari Melber said on Tuesday that President Joe Biden, “at times, can sound a bit like the new Bernie [Sanders]” — addressing the president’s increasingly progressive views throughout his political career.

“Joe Biden has begun his presidency on a more liberal footing than the last two Democratic presidents, which makes this the most progressive start to any presidency in the past 40 years,” Melber said, noting that Biden is “pushing for a cumulative $4 trillion in total spending in his first 100 days.”

Comparing today’s Biden to the Biden of the 1990s, Melber played several clips from his time as a self-described “centrist” senator.

“More cops, more prisons, more physical protection for the people,” he said in one clip from November 1993, later adding, “We have predators on our streets.”

“That was then, in Joe Biden’s long Senate career, and then we know recently that party that he’s in seemed to sort of split two presidential cycles in a row between the more establishment centrist choice and a progressive one,” said Melber, noting that at this time last year, Sanders had not yet endorsed Biden.

Melber then claimed that Biden is governing in favor of the progressive base, noting that he is pushing for higher taxes on the wealthy and on corporations, and that he is planning on spending far more than the Obama administration.

“Joe Biden taking sides with labor more than he did in past decades, or than past Democratic presidents. He’s pushing the new multitrillion plan with major planks for jobs, racial justice, and addressing climate change,” Melber said.

“Now whether it’s correlation or causation, Biden at times can sound a bit like the new Bernie.”

The anchor later played a clip comparing Sanders’ call for better infrastructure to Biden’s, as both politicians praised China for its successful projects.

“Is Biden simply revealing his own values now that he has this power? Or is he channeling Sanders? An Obama campaign veteran and Beat guest, Chai Komanduri, says it shows the new era of progressive politics that’s much closer to Bernie Sanders’ vision of radically distributing America’s wealth downwards,” Melber said before noting some key differences between the two politicians, including Sanders’ push for more direct climate action.

Komanduri later joined Melber, agreeing that there is a clear overlap between Biden and Sanders.

“He understands where is the country has been, where it’s going and how the Obama-Clinton sort of pathway didn’t really work for the Democratic Party very well,” Komanduri said of Biden. “I think it’s very fair to say that Bernie Sanders is one of the most consequential losers in presidential history. In politics, sometimes you can win by losing. And I think in many ways Bernie has done that. His campaign, and I would put it on a very shortlist. I would put it with Howard Dean’s 2004 campaign, which revolutionized the internet, and grassroots fundraising, and Barry Goldwater’s campaign most importantly. I think that’s a best example of where Bernie Sanders’ campaign is going to end up historically looking. Barry Goldwater lost the battle in the ’60s but he ended up winning the war by the 1980s. Bernie Sanders, in a much quicker timeline, appears to have done exactly the same thing.”

Watch above, via MSNBC.