‘I’m not tearing down the system,’ Bernie Sanders says in response to former president’s message

Democratic 2020 presidential candidates have rejected criticism from former president Barack Obama, after he warned the field of White House hopefuls not to veer too far to the left because it would alienate voters.

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Though 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.

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 healthcare 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 reporters in Long Beach. “Because whoever is the nominee, we have one shot to make Donald Trump a one-term president. And so I’m not interested in delineating left or right or criticizing other folks.”

He added: “Let’s stop tearing each other down, let’s stop drawing artificial lines. I’m tired in this election of hearing some people say, ‘Well if this person gets elected, I can’t support them,’ and then other people say, ‘If this person gets elected, I can’t support them.’ Are you kidding me?”

Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) Last night at #CADem19 I was asked about what I think voters are really looking for in this election.



My answer? I think Americans want solutions forged in courageous empathy and results they can see in their own communities—not partisan bickering or political ultimatums. pic.twitter.com/dpNNXSEf6W

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.”

Obama has largely refrained from publicly opining on the Democratic primary, which has exposed a growing rift between an ascendant progressive wing of the party and old-guard centrists like his former vice president, Joe Biden.

But on Friday he said he felt compelled to weigh in because some of the loudest and most strident voices, particularly on social media, aren’t representative of where most in the party are at. Immigration and health care are two issues he cited as cases where Democratic candidates are out of sync with public sentiment.

“There are a lot of persuadable voters and there are a lot of Democrats out there who just want to see things make sense. They just don’t want to see crazy stuff. They want to see things a little more fair, they want to see things a little more just. And how we approach that I think will be important,” Obama said.

“Even as we push the envelope and we are bold in our vision, we also have to be rooted in reality and the fact that voters, including the Democratic voters and certainly persuadable independents or even moderate Republicans, are not driven by the same views that are reflected on certain, you know, left-leaning Twitter feeds,” Obama said.

Obama delivered his remarks at a gathering of the Democracy Alliance, a group of wealthy Democrats who raise large sums for the party. He was interviewed by Stacey Abrams, a rising star in the party who narrowly lost the Georgia governors race last year.

He also sought also to ease jittery Democrats who have been wringing their hands over the size of the sprawling field, which some worry will lead to a prolonged contest that will leave the eventual nominee with limited time to prepare for the general election.

“I just have to remind you that I had a very robust primary,” Obama said. “Not only did I win ultimately a remarkably tough and lengthy primary process with Hillary Clinton, but people forget that even before that we had a big field of really serious, accomplished people.”

Associated Press contributed to this report