Kevin McCarthy: Dems now a socialist party 'that thinks Fidel Castro is a good person'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said on “Fox & Friends” on Monday that Democrats are now a socialist party “that thinks Fidel Castro is a good person.”
McCarthy made the comment one day after Sen. Bernie Sanders, the front-runner for the Democrats' presidential nomination, doubled down on his support for some of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's policies, saying in an interview that "it's unfair to simply say everything is bad."
Speaking to CBS News' "60 Minutes," Sanders, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, pointed to social welfare programs introduced under Castro's regime that he described as redeeming, despite the communist dictator's often repressive human-rights violations against Cubans.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“This is a movement of politics,” McCarthy noted. “This is not the Democratic Party of the past.”
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He added that he thinks Sanders, who has been victorious in all three of the earliest state contests, is going to be the Democratic presidential nominee.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“He’s reflective of their policies and their philosophy,” McCarthy said, noting that Sanders is so far beating experienced politician and former Vice President Joe Biden “by more than twice the number of votes.”
“Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren have dropped,” McCarthy said on Monday. “This is really a Bernie Sanders party.”
He then referenced the members of the “Squad,” four freshman congresswomen — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“This is AOC. This is Tlaib. This is Omar. They call themselves socialist Democrats. Not when Bernie started running, when they got elected inside Congress,” McCarthy noted.
Host Steve Doocy said if Sanders becomes the nominee, McCarthy “could be closer to speaker,” reacting to what House Majority Whip James Clyburn said in an ABC interview on “This Week” Sunday. Clyburn noted that in moderate and conservative districts, where Democrats have done well, “it's going to be tough to hold on to these jobs if you have to make the case for accepting a self-proclaimed democratic socialist.”
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“It's not because if Bernie Sanders is the nominee, it's because of what they embrace,” McCarthy said in response. “They embrace Bernie Sanders’ policy. They embrace socialism, they’re just embarrassed of Bernie.”
“More than half of the Democrats in Congress have co-sponsored 'Medicare-for-all.' Almost half, the Green New Deal,” he continued. “They call themselves socialist Democrats, the Squad that controls the floor.”
He went on to say that “the real reason why they’ll lose the majority” is because Democrats have “accomplished nothing.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“They have issued more subpoenas than they have created laws,” McCarthy said.
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He added, “All they do is investigate. They have not lowered prescription drugs. They have not bid on infrastructure. They have not moved this Congress forward. They promised that they would govern different and they’re wrong, they did not.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News’ Vandana Rambaran contributed to this report.