America’s best-known socialist is now officially a Democrat.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has signed the party-loyalty pledge that the Democratic National Committee requires of all presidential-primary candidates.
“I am a member of the Democratic Party,” says the statement to the DNC that Mr. Sanders signed and notarized Tuesday, according to NBC News.
The statement, which the DNC sent last week to all the party’s declared presidential candidates, says Mr. Sanders will serve as a Democrat if elected and that the DNC is the arbiter of who is “a bonafide Democrat.”
Although he is a member of the Democratic Caucus in the U.S. Senate, Mr. Sanders has been elected as an independent since winning his first term in 2006. In none of his three races has the Democratic Party fielded a candidate though.
And despite Tuesday’s presidential pledge, NBC News reported, Mr. Sanders listed himself as an independent Monday when filing paperwork in Vermont to seek a fourth term in 2024.
The party-loyalty pledge, which Sanders supporters in the DNC resisted, was added to the 2020 rules to clarify party membership. Mr. Sanders’ long resistance to formally joining their party has irked some Democrats and the matter came up between Mr. Sanders and Hillary Clinton during their 2016 presidential-primary contest.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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