Appearing on a “60 Minutes” Sunday night, Sanders defended Castro to host Anderson Cooper, emphasizing the dictator’s “literacy program.”
“We’re very opposed to the authoritarian nature of Cuba but you know, it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad. You know?” the socialist told Cooper, according to CBS News. “When Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing? Even though Fidel Castro did it?”
Cooper, also an anchor at CNN, pressed, “A lot of dissidents [are] imprisoned in Cuba.”
“That’s right. And we condemn that,” Sanders replied, before shifting gears to hit President Donald Trump. “Unlike Donald Trump, let’s be clear, you want to– I do not think that Kim Jong Un is a good friend,” he said. “I don’t trade love letters with a murdering dictator. Vladimir Putin, not a great friend of mine.”
Sanders, then serving as the mayor of Burlington, praised Castro in 1985.
At the time, Sanders was the mayor of Burlington and was interviewed by the Center for Media & Democracy’s Channel 17/Town Meeting Television about his trip to Nicaragua. In the interview, he made comparisons between Marxist dictator Daniel Ortega and Castro. Sanders just could not get enough of Castro.”
In 1961, [America] invaded Cuba, and everybody was totally convinced that Castro was the worst guy in the world,” said Sanders.
“All the Cuban people were going to rise up in rebellion against Fidel Castro. They forgot that he educated their kids, gave their kids health care, totally transformed society,” he said.
“You know, not to say Fidel Castro and Cuba are perfect – they are certainly not – but just because Ronald Reagan dislikes these people does not mean to say the people in these nations feel the same,” continued Sanders.
“We’re very opposed to the authoritarian nature of Cuba but you know, it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad. You know?” the socialist told Cooper, according to CBS News. “When Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing? Even though Fidel Castro did it?”
Cooper, also an anchor at CNN, pressed, “A lot of dissidents [are] imprisoned in Cuba.”
“That’s right. And we condemn that,” Sanders replied, before shifting gears to hit President Donald Trump. “Unlike Donald Trump, let’s be clear, you want to– I do not think that Kim Jong Un is a good friend,” he said. “I don’t trade love letters with a murdering dictator. Vladimir Putin, not a great friend of mine.”
Sanders, then serving as the mayor of Burlington, praised Castro in 1985.
At the time, Sanders was the mayor of Burlington and was interviewed by the Center for Media & Democracy’s Channel 17/Town Meeting Television about his trip to Nicaragua. In the interview, he made comparisons between Marxist dictator Daniel Ortega and Castro. Sanders just could not get enough of Castro.”
In 1961, [America] invaded Cuba, and everybody was totally convinced that Castro was the worst guy in the world,” said Sanders.
“All the Cuban people were going to rise up in rebellion against Fidel Castro. They forgot that he educated their kids, gave their kids health care, totally transformed society,” he said.
“You know, not to say Fidel Castro and Cuba are perfect – they are certainly not – but just because Ronald Reagan dislikes these people does not mean to say the people in these nations feel the same,” continued Sanders.
