US Election 2020: Democrats Respond To Obama’s Warning

Democratic presidential candidates have given their reaction to a warning by former President Barack Obama against moving too far left in politics.

Although Obama did not mention anyone by name, the message he delivered before a room of Democratic donors in Washington on Friday was a clear word of caution about the candidacies of Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, who are seen as two of the top-tier candidates in the crowded field.

READ ALSO: US election 2020: Obama issues warning to ‘revolutionary’ Democrats

Sanders and Warren have called for massive structural changes and policies that would dramatically alter the role of government in Americans’ lives. The centrist wing of the party has warned for months that a far-left nominee could alienate moderate Republicans and independent voters needed to oust Donald Trump.

“The average American doesn’t think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it. And I think it’s important for us not to lose sight of that,” Obama said.

Addressing Obama’s comments over the weekend, Sanders told a forum in Long Beach: “I’m not tearing down the system.”

“When I talk about health care being a human right and ending the embarrassment of America being the only major country on earth that does not guarantee health care for every man, woman and child, that’s not tearing down the system,” he said, according to the New York Times. “That’s doing what we should have done 30 years ago.”

New Jersey senator and 2020 candidate Cory Booker called for Democrats to “stop tearing each other down” and to instead back the wide field of contenders in the race to win the Democratic presidential nomination ahead of the 2020 election.

“What we’re doing right now, creating these dynamics within the Democratic party, we’ve got to be careful,” Booker told supporters in Long Beach

Julián Castro, a 2020 Democratic candidate who served as housing secretary under Obama, said while he takes what the former president says seriously, he also believes any of the 2020 Democratic candidates would be better than Trump. “Their vision for the future of the country is much better and will be more popular than Donald Trump’s.”

Some Democrats called for unity, while others defended their policy agenda.

Nearly 20 candidates remain in the running and there is much debate over the best approach to taking on President Trump next year.