It's 'good' that Arizona Dems censured Sinema, Sanders says on Meet the Press

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) expressed his approval of the Arizona Democratic Party's decision to censure Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) during an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday.

Arizona Democratic Party leadership voted unanimously to censure Sinema on Saturday after she refused to support a Senate rule change that would have circumvented the filibuster and enabled President Biden's voting rights bill to pass.

Sinema said she supported the bill, but weakening the filibuster would "worsen the underlying disease of division infecting our country." On Wednesday, she joined Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) in voting with Senate Republicans to defeat the rule change motion, effectively killing the voting rights bill.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"Do you think ... it's been healthy for the Democratic Party to highlight the division in the party?" Meet the Press host Chuck Todd asked Sanders. "You look at Sen. Sinema, she was censured by the Arizona Democratic Party —"

"Good," Sanders said before Todd could finish his question.

Todd continued, " — over what some will look at as a disagreement over tactics; not over substance, but over tactics. Do you think that was an appropriate action?"

"Yeah, I do," Sanders responded. "I think it's exactly right."

According to The Associated Press, Sanders is considering campaigning on behalf of Sinema's eventual primary opponent in 2024.