Bernie Sanders Hints At Third Presidential Run If Biden Doesn’t Seek Re-election

Is Bernie Sanders, the nominally Independent Vermont Senator, already laying the groundwork for a third run for the presidency? According to the Washington Post, Sen. Sanders – who has previously said a third run would be “very very unlikely” – is already laying the groundwork, as he has notified several related organizations that he would run again if President Biden doesn’t pursue another term. 

In the event of an “open” Democratic Primary in 2024, Sanders “has not ruled out another run”, according to one particularly telling passage from the memo. 

“In the event of an open 2024 Democratic presidential primary, Sen. Sanders has not ruled out another run for president, so we advise that you answer any questions about 2024 with that in mind,” read a memo from Faiz Shakir, a close Sanders adviser who was his campaign manager when he ran in 2020.

A Sanders spokesman said that the leak of the memo was “frustrating” but nevertheless hinted that a third Sanders presidential run might be in the cards. 

“While it’s frustrating this private memo leaked to the media, the central fact remains true, which is that Senator Sanders is the most popular officeholder in the country,” said Sanders spokesman Mike Casca, when asked for comment. Casca and the memo based that assertion on a recent poll.

While moderate Dems worry that Sanders – given his association with socialism – would be too “polarizing”, at this point, it’s difficult to imagine another Democrat being less popular than Biden (perhaps with the exception of Kamala Harris). 

The latest polling numbers show that Biden has never been less popular relative to President Trump. 

Shortly after he conceded defeat to Biden in the last primary, Sen. Sanders told the Washington Post that the chances of him running again were “very, very slim”. 

Here’s @BernieSanders’ full answer on running again back in May 2020. He didn’t completely rule it out, as @costareports noted in real time, but he says:

“I think it’s very, very unlikely that I’ll be running for president ever again.” pic.twitter.com/WX8gq5Vz7V

— Adam Kelsey (@adamkelsey) April 20, 2022

The memo that was leaked to WaPo was purportedly penned to offer advice to candidates who had received an endorsement from Sanders about how they might go about responding to attacks from “corporate Democrats”.