As Bernie Sanders Hails Communist Fidel Castro, Democrats Fear a Down-Ballot Disaster

Bernie Sanders has rocketed to the top of the Democratic primary field after winning contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada. His emergence puts him in the driver seat for the nomination. As the nominee, Sanders would become the leader of the Democratic Party, and with that, his views would become the standard for Democratic candidates across the country.

In a CBS 60 Minutes interview, Bernie Sanders was asked about his past comments hailing Fidel Castro and his authoritarian communist regime in Cuba. Sanders was effusive in praise for Castro.

Sanders prioritized hailing a literacy program rather than criticizing the Castro regime’s gross human rights abuses and economic policies that drove the country into poverty and peril. 

Democratic members of Congress with large Cuban populations in their districts took notice.

Journalists also pointed out the context behind Sanders’s ridiculous Castro comments.

Sanders is causing heartache for Democrats up and down the ballot. In addition to the swift backlash seen in Florida, Democrats in New Jersey, one of the bluest states in the country, are approaching panic mode. 

NewJersey.com: Another Democrat in a swing district, promised anonymity, was blunt: “If Sanders is the nominee, I will lose,” the member said. “I think a bunch would lose. Bernie would drag us right down.”

A Sanders nomination would be disastrous for Democrats and put their House majority squarely in play. It will be a national election pitting unpopular authoritarian socialism up against a humming economy.