In his latest crusade against free market capitalism, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is ironically presenting himself as the new voice of Republican voters. The man who spoke admiringly about how the dictator Fidel Castro governed Cuba and its health care system now thinks Republicans are and should be joining his side. This would be laughable if it wasn’t being taken seriously in many quarters.
In this new PR campaign, Sen. Sanders is claiming that Republican voters support his extreme agenda of breaking intellectual property protections, importing drugs from foreign countries, and worsening red tape by blocking any nominee to lead a federal health care agency. Reality, however, couldn’t be further from the truth and recent polling from the conservative consumer advocacy group Consumer Action for a Strong Economy (CASE) proves it.
Last week, CASE released a national survey of Right-learning voters to ascertain their views of the American biotech industry. The poll found that the overwhelming majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents support reducing red tape, reforming the tax code, and protecting intellectual property rights to make sure American biotech can keep the United States secure from China.
Instead of importing foreign drugs, Republicans nearly universally want their elected leaders to focus on reducing dependence on Chinese manufacturing for drugs, stopping the dangerous flow of fake Chinese counterfeit drugs, and empowering U.S. biotech companies to continue to develop safe and effective medicines. Instead of dismissing intellectual property protections, they want to crack down on Chinese intellectual property theft and make sure we continue beating China in innovation. Needless to say, this is all a far cry from Bernie Sanders-style socialism.
Fortunately, there are already bipartisan efforts in Congress underway that reflect these urgent priorities. Last Thursday, Republican California Rep. Michelle Steel and Democratic Illinois Rep. Brad Schneider introduced legislation that would bolster American supply chains and make the United States less reliant on the Chinese Communist Party for medical goods and services. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) have now introduced the Senate version of this bill. If Bernie Sanders actually cared at all about supporting the priorities of Republicans, he would be eagerly lending his support for this bill. In reality, his extreme agenda would make all of these problems far worse.
Republican voters are rightly fed up with many American corporations who have been persuaded to take sides on political issues, embracing many dangerous socialist ideas. However, the problem is that too many corporate leaders have embraced or have been bullied into standing by the egregious agenda being peddled by far-Left politicians like Sen. Sanders. It should go without saying that the answer to this problem is not more socialism from Sen. Sanders.
Republicans may be divided on many issues, but we stand united in opposition to Sanders-style socialism. Conservative leaders who allow themselves to be fooled otherwise will be making a huge mistake.
Gentry Collins is the CEO of the American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce, which represents hard working entrepreneurs, innovators, and creators. He previously served as the national political director at both the Republican Governors Association and the Republican National Committee.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
This article has been updated for clarity. A previous version stated Senator Sanders was a Democrat. He is an Independent.