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‘There goes Florida’: Bernie Sanders praises murderous dictator Fidel Castro on ’60 Minutes’

February 24, 2020 | | Print Article
Screengrab CBS

Well, there went Florida.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the self-avowed socialist and now Democratic frontrunner, saw fit to praise the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro on national television.

Appearing on “60 Minutes,” Sanders pointed to literacy programs by the murderous tyrant to say that “it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad.”

In the segment, anchor Anderson Cooper runs a clip from the 1980s, saying Sanders “is explaining why the Cuban people didn’t rise up and help the US overthrow Cuban leader Fidel Castro.”

“He educated their kids, gave them health care, totally transformed the society, you know?” Sanders is heard saying in the clip.

“We’re very opposed to the authoritarian nature of Cuba but you know, it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad,” the Vermont senator told Cooper. “When Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing? Even though Fidel Castro did it?”

Almost surprisingly, Cooper noted that there were “a lot of dissidents imprisoned in Cuba.”

“That’s right, and we condemn that,” Sanders replied, before pivoting away from the issue to launch an attack on President Trump.

The fallout from the remarks was immediate and came from all sides.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., whose parents were born in Cuba and fled their homeland ahead of Castro’s bloody reign, set the record straight on why the Cuban people didn’t help the US.

Taking to Twitter, Rubio said Sanders was “wrong about why people didn’t overthrow Castro. It’s not because ‘he educated their kids, gave them health care’ it‘s because his opponents were jailed, murdered or exiled.”

Rubio also exposed the tactics employed by communists to get people on board.

“The central promise every Marxist makes is that if we give up some of our individual freedom, the state will provide us more ‘security’ like free health care & education. But ultimately Marxism fails to deliver ‘security’ & you don’t have the freedom to do anything about it.” he tweeted.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, whose father was born in Cuba, sarcastically said: “It really makes a difference when those you murder at the firing squad can read & write.”

Even Democrats like Rep. Donna Shalala, D-Fla., who represents Miami, tore into Sanders.

The former Clinton administration Health and Human Services secretary said in a tweet: “I’m hoping that in the future, Senator Sanders will take time to speak to some of my constituents before he decides to sing the praises of a murderous tyrant like Fidel Castro.”

But former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino may have provided the most telling commentary on Sanders.

“This fraud, phony, snake ? oil salesman doesn’t belong within 1,000 miles of any position of power. He’s dangerous. You’ve been warned,” Bongino tweeted.

In the end, it was the impact Sanders words will likely have in the critical swing state of Florida that took precedence. Far and wide, the response was that if Sanders is the Democrat nominee, the party just lost Florida.

Here’s a quick sampling of responses from Twitter:

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Tom Tillison
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