Bernie Sanders campaigns for Biden near Pittsburgh, encouraging unity and appealing to workers

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) campaigned near Pittsburgh last Saturday for Democratic presidential nominee and former Penn Presidential Professor of Practice Joe Biden in efforts to push Pennsylvanians to vote in the upcoming election. 

Sanders hosted a drive-in rally with appearances from Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman and Pennsylvania State Representatives Sara Innamorato and Summer Lee, TRIBLive reported. In his approximately 30-minute speech, Sanders stressed the importance of revitalizing the American economy, critiqued United States President and1968 Wharton graduate Donald Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and urged his supporters to vote for Biden. 

While Sanders acknowledged his differing policy stances compared to Biden — such as Sanders’ support for Medicare for All — his overall message was one of unity within the Democratic party and throughout the country, working to appeal to moderates and conservatives to vote for the former vice president in efforts to oust Trump.

“Simply stated, this country — in fact, world — cannot tolerate four more years of Donald Trump,” Sanders said to a crowd of honking horns, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.

Addressing union workers, Sanders focused on the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on the working class that has been further exacerbated by systemic inequality and low wages. He highlighted Biden’s commitment to raising the minimum wage, providing 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, and easing the process for workers to join unions, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported. 

In regards to the current administration, Sanders described Trump as anti-science and a “pathological liar.”

He also emphasized the importance of winning Pennsylvania — a key battleground state in naming the winner — calling the 2020 presidential election “the most important election in the modern history of this country,” The Daily Collegian reported. 

On Saturday morning, Sanders spoke at the Community College of Allegheny County for a get-out-the-vote event with community members, volunteers, and members of the Service Employees International Union. 

Sanders’ Oct. 24 drive-in rally coincided with a Trump rally on the same day in Circleville, Ohio. Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, also hosted a drive-in rally in Philadelphia on Saturday, following former president Barack Obama’s visit to Philadelphia last Wednesday.

"Let’s have the highest voter turnout in Pennsylvania history," TRIBLive reported Sanders saying at his rally on Saturday. "Let’s send Trump packing. Let’s transform this country."