Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) declared that communist China has done more to alleviate poverty than any country in history during a Tuesday appearance on HILL TV’s Rising.
Granting that it is unfortunate that China is “moving” toward authoritarianism instead of democratic governance, the presidential candidate argued its record on poverty is the best in the world.
“China is a country that is moving, unfortunately, in a more authoritarian way in a number of directions,” Sanders said. “But what we have to say about China in fairness to China and its leadership is, if I’m not mistaken, they have made more progress in addressing extreme poverty than any country in the history of civilization. So they’ve done a lot of things for their people.”
Sanders had just finished denouncing “far-right authoritarian leaders” such as President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, both elected leaders of liberal democratic nations, when he was asked about China at the 10:27 mark of the episode. HILL TV host Krystal Ball asked Sanders about his prior statement that normalizing trade relations with China would be devastating for America. – READ MORE