Bernie Sanders takes a shot at fellow 2020 Democrat John Hickenlooper's socialism takedown

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) doesn't have a single word for former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper.

After Sanders gave a speech Wednesday defending democratic socialism, fellow 2020 Democratic candidate Hickenlooper launched a Twitter thread to dismantle it as a "bad governing model." Except seeing as Hickenlooper has just barely qualified for the 2020 Democratic debates, it didn't get much attention.

That is, it didn't get much attention until Sanders himself decided to call Hickenlooper out. Sanders tweeted a video on Thursday not of his earlier speech, but of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt sharing a whole bunch of traditionally socialist ideas, calling it his "response to Gov. Hickenlooper."

Subscribe to 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

Of course, Sanders even giving Hickenlooper a response seems to indicate that he sees the bottom-tier contender as a threat. After all, Sanders' poll numbers have been sliding right into Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-Mass.) pocket, and his whole Wednesday speech was seen by some as a way to differentiate himself from the rising progressive rival. Then again, Sanders didn't even have to spend a breath trying to put Hickenlooper in his place.

Editor's note: This piece initially misstated Hickenlooper's title. It has since been corrected. We regret the error.