Washington Post editorial slams Sanders for 'selling his own brand of fiction'

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 28 January 2016

The Washington Post tore into Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in its Thursday editorial, questioning the authenticity of his message and the plausibility of his promises. While Sanders may be positioned as an "uncorrupted anti-establishment crusader," The Post posits that he "is not a brave truth-teller," but a "politician selling his own brand of fiction to a slice of the country that eagerly wants to buy it."

The Washington Post suggests Sanders needs a "reality check" on his Wall Street proposals, a better explanation of just how he would ration health care like European countries, and an acknowledgment of the "many legitimate checks and balances in the political system that he cannot wish away." All in all, The Post concludes, Sanders just isn't all that different from other politicians:

Strong ideological preferences guide his thinking, except when politics does, as it has on gun control. When reality is ideologically or politically inconvenient, he and his campaign talk around it. Mr. Sanders' success so far does not show that the country is ready for a political revolution. It merely proves that many progressives like being told everything they want to hear. [The Washington Post]