Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) plans to stick around in Congress until he’s nearly 90 years old, another leftist geezer who refuses to pass the torch to the younger generation.
The Vermont socialist who turned 83 in September, two months before he was reelected for his fourth Senate term, told Politico that it would likely be his last.
“I’m 83 now. I’ll be 89 when I get out of here. You can do the figuring. I don’t know, but I would assume, probably, yes,” he said when asked whether he’ll finally hang it up after six more years.
Sanders has been in Congress since 1991 and served eight terms in the House of Representatives for the far-left state before he was first elected to the Senate in 2006.
If he doesn’t change his mind and does run for reelection again in 2030, he could surpass the 90-year mark, putting him in rarified company although he would still fall way short of South Carolina Republican Strom Thurmond who served until he was 100.
Sanders, who calls himself an Independent despite being in near total lockstep with Democrats, famously ran for the party’s nomination twice losing both in 2016 and 2020 to the establishment-backed candidate.
He had a serious chance at upsetting Hillary Clinton in 2016 if he hadn’t been screwed over by a DNC packed with loyalists, and in 2020 he jumped out to a commanding lead before being derailed by Biden ally Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) who mobilized his powerful black machine in the Palmetto State primary, rescuing the eventual president from the political grave.
Sanders is showing signs of bucking the Democrat establishment again just like he did in 2016 with his populist message. He fiercely criticized the party for throwing the working class under the bus after President-elect Donald J. Trump won the election last month.
“It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them. While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right,” he said after Trump was declared the winner.
It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them.
While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change.
And they’re right. pic.twitter.com/lM2gSJmQFL
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) November 6, 2024
Sanders has also been one of the most strident congressional critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the country began the military operation to cleanse Gaza of Hamas after the terror organization carried out the barbaric sneak attack on Israeli civilian areas last October, a massacre that claimed over 1,200 lives with many more being taken hostage.
He has tried and failed to block arms sales to the nation’s longtime Middle East ally as the Jewish democracy fights to defend itself against those who want to see it wiped off the map.
The geriatric senator is among a group of oldsters who continue to cling to power well past traditional retirement years, holding down spots that prevent a new crop of leaders from getting their shot at political power, and it’s a bipartisan club.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is 91, Sen. Mitch McConnell (KY) is 82, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is 84, Rep. Maxine Watters (D-CA) is 86 and Clyburn is 84 years old, they are among the most senior citizens in Congress.
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