The Young Turks Founder Cenk Uygur said Tuesday that President Joe Biden is “the definition of a corporate Democrat” and that progressives must push him “to a halfway decent place” when it comes to policy.
Uygur argued to host Pedro Echevarria on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” that progressive Democrats need to “beat the living hell” out of the “corporate Democrats” because that’s the “only way” to get things like the $15 minimum wage passed. (RELATED: ‘As Far As We Can’: Bernie Sanders Plans To ‘Push’ Joe Biden To The Left)
Echevarria began by asking Uygur if it was easier to be a progressive voice and do what he does in the media with Democrats controlling the White House and both houses of Congress.
“Well, yes and no. So, yes, in that they’re at least willing to listen and they’re rational human beings. I mean you couldn’t get Trump to do anything that wasn’t 100% in favor of Trump … The Republicans still like him because he hates the same people as they do,” Uygur responded. “When it comes to Joe Biden, it’s not like ‘oh my God we made it, it’s a progressive shangri-la.’ No, I mean, Joe Biden is probably the definition of a corporate Democrat, and certainly has been throughout his career.”
He went on to state that Biden locked up “millions of people through his crime bills” and “his war on drugs.” He said that Biden has “gotten better,” but that he’s just adjusting to the political winds because the country is “very progressive.” He added that “the only reason” Biden became president over Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was because the media painted him as the only candidate who could beat former President Donald Trump, and that he “barely” did just that.
“But do we have to push Joe Biden? Yes, we have to push him a lot to get him to a halfway decent place,” Uygur continued. “Every Democrat said ‘oh yeah , we’re definitely in favor of the $15 minimum wage.’ I knew they were lying, and I told my audience corporate Democrats work for the Chamber of Commerce, they’re never going to pass it. They’re certainly not going to pass it easily.”
He argued that the “only way” the $15 minimum wage would be passed is if progressives “beat the living hell out of them.” He then said that people told him he was too skeptical for not believing Democrats would keep their promises, and that he was justified in his belief when Democrats took the $15 minimum wage out of the coronavirus relief bill.
“The only thing that politicians in Washington care about, with the exception of the Justice Democrats, is money. Donations, donations, donations,” Uygur concluded. “We’ve made bribery legal in America, and then we’re surprised that everybody works for big business. Of course they work for big business. Mitch McConnell does, Nancy Pelosi does, and so does Joe Biden.”