DES MOINES, Iowa — Sen. Bernard Sanders closed out the long weekend by urging supporters here in Iowa to pick up the slack for him while he is tied up in Washington with President Trump’s impeachment trial.
Mr. Sanders marched arm-in-arm Monday with some of his Democratic presidential rivals in South Carolina in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and then returned to Iowa for a pair of events, including a stop here with Rep. Pramila Jayapal, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
“I am not going to be here as much as I would like, so you guys are going to have to carry the ball,” Mr. Sanders told supporters. “I am going to be stuck in Washington for God knows how long.”
Mr. Sanders and three of his fellow 2020 contenders — Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Vermont, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Michael Bennet of Colorado — plan to be in Washington Tuesday to fulfill their roles as jurors, in which they will be tasked with weighing the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress that have been lodged against Mr. Trump.
Ms. Warren and Ms. Klobuchar also squeezed in stops in South Carolina and Iowa before getting pulled off the campaign trail.
At his rally, Mr. Sanders repeated his support for Medicare for All, overhauling the criminal justice system and wiping away all student death with a “modest” tax on Wall Street. He vowed to fight for a ban on the sale of assault weapons, enact universal childcare, and defend pro-choice policies.
He said he is best positioned to defeat Mr. Trump because his campaign is built on a grassroots, people-powered movement that is challenging the status quo, and energizing millions of people to vote in 2020.
“We have changed the rules of the game,” Mr. Sanders said. “We are not here to represent the political establishment or the economic establishment. We are here to represent the working class of America!”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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