Senator Says, ‘I Ran a Virtually Unnoticed Campaign for President,’ Chris Hayes Replies, ‘You Know, I’d Forgotten About That’

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) appeared on Wednesday’s All In to discuss the benefits of the child tax credit, which is set to expire at the end of the month. Under the provision, married couples making less than $150,000 a year receive a monthly check for each child under the age of 18.

The senator noted that he’s long been advocate of the child tax credit, and brought up the prominence it played in his incredibly brief 2020 presidential campaign.

Introducing Bennet, Hayes called him “one of the architects” of the policy.

“I will say, Chris,” said Bennet, “I ran a virtually unnoticed campaign for president on this idea.”

“You know, I’d forgotten about that,” said Hayes, laughing along with Bennet. “No, I’m kidding. It’s true, you did. You did run on that.”

Hayes asked Bennet to assess the effects of the child tax credit.

“It’s been one of the most successful domestic policies in generations,” said the senator. “We’ve cut childhood poverty almost in half. We’ve reduced hunger by one-quarter. Just think about that for a second. We’ve reduced hunger in this country where we have one of the highest childhood poverty rates of any industrialized country. We’re 38th out of 41. And the poorest people, the poorest generation in America are our children. And what we’ve said is, we don’t have to accept that as a permanent feature of our democracy or our economy.”

Bennet said the program has worked as he expected, and that parents are spending the money on necessities such as food, rent, and – crucially – child care “so they can stay at work to support their families.”

Watch above via MSNBC.