Former Bernie Sanders press secretary Symone Sanders explained to Politico in an interview appearing on Wednesday how she went from supporting the uncompromising outsider whose progressive campaign in the last election electrified the left to backing the ultimate centrist, former Vice President Joe Biden.
Symone Sanders insists that Biden is the best candidate, not due to any single policy issue or a greater vision for the country, but because of his appeal to two vital groups that the next Democratic nominee is going to need: black voters and the Rust Belt workers who helped elect President Donald Trump in 2016.
Symone Sanders, who is a senior adviser to the Biden campaign, herself appears to represent many of the characteristics the party thinks will help it defeat Trump: She is young, black, a Great Plains state native and outraged by the administration and its enablers.
It is critical that if Biden wins the Democratic nomination that progressives follow her in supporting him by making the transition from the appeal of a purist such as Bernie Sanders to someone like the former vice president who, while not entirely agreeing with all his views, has a much greater ability to win a general election.
“My politics are not tied to Bernie Sanders and they are not tied to Joe Biden,” Sanders told Politico. “I have great respect for Senator Sanders and I have great respect and admiration for Vice President Biden. If I didn’t, I would not be working for him right now. But he does not define me.”
She added that “I’ve never agreed 100 percent with anybody I’ve gone to work for. Obviously I've disagreed with Vice President Biden.”
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.