Recent polls indicate that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is overtaking former Vice President Joe Biden as the Democratic frontrunner in the upcoming presidential election.

And Moe Vela, the former Director of Administration for Vice President Joe Biden and currently on the Board of Directors for TransparentBusiness, is critical of Sanders’ self-proclaimed socialist ideas.

“I feel relatively confident that socialism, or anything close to it, has no chance of beating Trump in 2020,” Vela told Yahoo Finance. “If Bernie Sanders is his opponent, [Donald Trump] will use the word socialism. And polling shows very clearly that centrist, moderate Democrat doesn’t like the word socialism. And in particular, Latino voters in Florida, for example, they see the word socialism, they run the other direction. Because many of them, either their families or they, themselves, have come from countries where they were victimized by socialism.”

Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) have both proposed forms of Medicare for all as their solutions to the current health care system in the U.S. And according to a poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation, more Democrats support building upon the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — which is basically Biden’s plan — rather than replacing it with a type of Medicare for all.

View photos U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez & U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders on stage at Bernie Sanders Rally "Bernie's Back" in Queensbridge Park. She endorsed him for President of USA. (Photo: Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) More





‘The Oprah Winfrey of electoral politics’

A November 2019 Gallup poll found that 39% of Americans have a positive view of socialism, a 3% increase from 2010. So why is it popular among some Democrats?

“I call it the Oprah Winfrey of electoral politics,” Vela said. “And here’s what I mean by that. You get a car. You get a car. You get your college debt paid off. You get a house. You get this paid off. You get this free. Oh, that’s free.”

He continued: “And so what millennial in their right mind is going to hear that and not think that’s exciting? Oh my goodness, I don’t have to pay off my college loans. Oh wow, I’m guaranteed this and that. And the reality is, it’s very misleading, socialism. And the way Bernie Sanders presents it, in my opinion, is extremely misleading and deceitful.”

View photos Moe Vela. (Source: The Vela Group) More

The Sanders campaign declined to comment.

Sanders has branded himself as a democratic socialist. In a speech at Georgetown University, he said: “We must recognize that in the 21st century, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, economic rights are human rights. That is what I mean by democratic socialism.”

The positive views of socialism are “simply because I think people hear it and it sounds so good,” Vela said. “I like free things too. I go to sales at department stores all the time because I’m attracted to a sale. However, the reality in policy, in the United States and in governance, is somebody has to pay for that.”

‘Medicare for all things’

Sanders’ Medicare for all plan is projected to add $13.4 trillion to deficits over a decade and cost $30.6 trillion. An analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) estimated that it would also increase national health expenditures by 6% between 2021 to 2030.