Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday the second Democratic presidential debate was a contest “between liberals and socialists,” rejecting the media’s portrayal of some of the candidates as moderates.
“The headlines across the country say that the story last night was that moderates in the Democratic Party were pushing back in the debate,” Mr. Pence told an audience of young conservatives in Washington. “You know, it’s pretty amazing what the media calls ’moderates’ these days. Last night’s Democratic debate wasn’t between moderates and liberals; it was between liberals and socialists.”
Some major mainstream media outlets portrayed the debate Tuesday night in Detroit as a battle between moderates and liberals over health care proposals.
The vice president said of the debate, “Before the first hour was over, leading Democrats advocated a government takeover of health care, open borders, free health care to illegal immigrants, and raising taxes on the middle class to pay for it.”
“And before the night was over, all of the leading Democrats argued for decriminalizing illegal immigration, the Green New Deal, gun control, and abortion,” he said. “It really is remarkable to see leading Democrats openly advocating an economic system that has impoverished millions around the world and robbed the liberties of generations. That system is socialism.”
He told the Young America’s Foundation annual national conservative student conference, “The future of this country depends on what we do over these next 15 months.”
“Prepare your minds for action,” Mr. Pence said of the 2020 election. “In the days ahead, it will not be sufficient for us simply to win the next election. We need to win the next generation. With your support, with conservatives elected, with statehouses and Congress across this country, with President Donald Trump in the White House, and with God’s help, we will renew this nation.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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