HuffPost

This week, the president finally gave it to him.

By Daniel Marans

President Donald Trump walked into a carefully laid trap on Wednesday, when, in an interview on CNBC, he suggested he was open to cutting Social Security and Medicare.

Asked by “Squawk Box” host Joe Kernen whether “entitlements” ― a Washington term for universal social insurance programs ― would ever be “on his plate,” Trump responded that they would.

“At some point they will be,” Trump said in the interview from Davos, Switzerland. “At the right time, we will take a look at that.”

It’s unclear if Trump even knew of exactly what he was speaking.

And the White House denied that was his intention. “With no benefit cuts, President Trump is keeping his commitment to the most vulnerable Americans, especially those who depend on Medicare and Social Security,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said.

But Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is vying for the chance to take on Trump as the Democratic presidential nominee, didn’t waste time using it against him.

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Politico

The Vermont senator is enjoying possibly his best week of polling at just the right time in the 2020 race.

By STEVEN SHEPARD

01/23/2020 06:45 PM EST

Bernie Sanders has been in the middle of every spat and squabble in the past few weeks of the Democratic presidential primary — and it seems to be working for him.

Sanders has surged in the handful of public polls out this week, a bounce that’s coming just at the right time for the Vermont senator, with voting set to begin soon in Iowa and other states. A CNN/SSRS national poll showed Sanders narrowly overtaking Joe Biden among Democratic voters for the first time. In New Hampshire — the site of a blowout primary win for Sanders in 2016 — a new poll shows him with a large plurality lead over the 2020 field.

The polls aren’t unanimous in showing a Sanders bump: Biden still leads polling averages nationally and in the Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses, where there has been little public polling so far this week.

But, on balance, the new survey data out this week have been some of Sanders’ best, even amid recent public tiffs with Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton and Biden — and also as Sanders is trapped in Washington during President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.

Here are three more things we’ve learned from this week’s polls:

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Politico

The Vermont senator jumped to 29 percent among Democratic voters, with Buttigieg coming in second at 17 percent.

By MYAH WARD

01/23/2020 09:52 AM EST

Bernie Sanders nearly doubled his support among Democratic voters in New Hampshire since December, with a new WBUR poll showing the Vermont senator with a healthy lead just three weeks away from the state's primary.

With a 14 percent increase since last month, 29 percent of Democratic primary voters in the battleground state said they would “support or lean toward” Sanders. Pete Buttigieg, who led the poll in December, followed behind Sanders at 17 percent, a slight dip of 1 point. Joe Biden, who typically polls better than or neck-and-neck with Sanders, dropped to 14 percent in January, a 3-point change since last month. Elizabeth Warren trailed behind Biden at 13 percent, a one-point increase from December.

It’s been a successful stretch for Sanders who raked in $34.5 million in fundraising for the fourth quarter of the year — putting the Democratic primary contender near President Donald Trump’s fourth quarter total of $46 million. Two other polls this week also showed Sanders and Biden ahead, and other polls show Sanders in the top ranks in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Sanders' polling and fundraising have remained steady since he suffered a heart attack on Oct. 1. The 78-year-old senator continues to do well with younger voters, with the WBUR poll showing he has the support of 52 percent of Democratic voters under age 30.

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The Hill

BY JONATHAN EASLEY AND AMIE PARNES - 01/22/20 06:00 AM EST

Hillary Clinton has torn open old wounds from her divisive 2016 battle with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), putting Democrats on edge about whether the party will be able to unite after a 2020 primary that has produced new fault lines between the center and the left.

Clinton’s attacks on Sanders — and her refusal to commit to endorsing him or campaigning for him if he wins the Democratic presidential nomination — infuriated progressives and raised new fears among Democrats about whether supporters for the losing candidates will turn out for the nominee against President Trump in November.

Those questions come as Sanders and his allies are ramping up their attacks against former Vice President Joe Biden, who they view as representative of the same “Clinton corporate wing” of the party that fumbled away the 2016 election to Trump.

Tensions are boiling over as polls find Sanders, Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) in a tight race in the final two weeks before the Iowa caucuses.

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The Hill

BY TAL AXELROD - 01/21/20 06:05 PM EST

Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) presidential campaign won the endorsement of a key California union Tuesday as it works to gin up support in the crucial Super Tuesday state.

Sanders earned the support of the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) union, the nation’s largest Communications Workers of America (CWA) chapter. The group, which represents nearly 17,000 employees across the University of California system, announced its endorsement after 66 percent of its members decided to back Sanders in an internal vote.

“Senator Sanders has fought for labor for decades and empowers workers to fight for what is just and deserved,” said UPTE-CWA 9119 President Jamie McDole. “He stands against privatization of education, and as a union that represents nearly 17,000 higher education employees and educators on 13 public university and community college campuses, the fight is a reality for us. It’s time for a candidate who puts people first.”

The endorsement comes at a critical time for the union, which just reached a new agreement with the University of California system for salary increases, overtime pay and protections on health care premiums.

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HuffPost

The former vice president has backed Social Security cuts in the past, but now supports a plan that would increase them.

By Daniel Marans and Sanjana Karanth

In a matter of a few hours on Tuesday evening, former Vice President Joe Biden released a digital video advertisement accusing Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a Democratic presidential rival, of lying about Biden’s support for Social Security cuts, and Sanders shot back with a video using Biden’s own words from 1995 indicating support for benefit cuts.

The exchange has given Biden a chance to assure voters that he plans to increase Social Security benefits rather than cut them, despite his record of support for benefit cuts.

But it also puts Sanders in the kind of head-to-head brawl over Social Security he had been craving, and heartens his supporters who worried that rival Democrats were taking advantage of his deference to civility norms.

Biden began the evening with a one-minute video that simultaneously sought to dispel Sanders’ claims that Biden had historically supported Social Security benefit cuts and paint Sanders as a divisive figure willing to “launch dishonest attacks against fellow Democrats.”

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Poitico

The poll found that 27 percent of registered Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents said they would support Sanders.

By MYAH WARD

01/22/2020 09:50 AM EST

Bernie Sanders’ standing with voters nationwide surged, with a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS showing that the Vermont senator has now joined Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic presidential field.

Among Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents who are registered to vote, 27 percent said they would support Sanders for the Democratic nomination, compared to Biden polling at 24 percent. The difference among the two candidates falls within the margin of error, so there is no clear leader in the poll.

This is the first CNN poll where Biden wasn’t the solo candidate on top. Sanders has gained 7 points since CNN’s last poll in December, the greatest surge among the candidates.

Both Biden and Sanders polled well ahead of other contenders like Elizabeth Warren at 14 percent and Pete Buttigieg at 11 percent. Michael Bloomberg’s support was at 5 percent.

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Mediaite

By Josh Feldman Jan 21st, 2020, 7:34 pm

Hillary Clinton took to Twitter tonight to address comments she made in a candid new interview about 2016 rival Bernie Sanders.

To briefly recap: Clinton stood by saying “nobody likes’ Sanders in a new Hollywood Reporter interview, unloading on “the culture around him” and “his online Bernie Bros and their relentless attacks on lots of his competitors, particularly the women.” She accused him of “permitting” this culture amongst his supporters and did not directly answer the question of whether she would endorse and campaign for him if he was the Democratic nominee for president.

As a result, #ILikeBernie trended on Twitter for much of the day, with Sanders supporters and even some other 2020 Democratic candidates weighing in:

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Politico

Bernie’s aides and allies feel that Hillary Clinton is trying to bait them.

By HOLLY OTTERBEIN

01/21/2020 07:23 PM EST

Bernie Sanders’ campaign remained largely — and uncharacteristically — quiet Tuesday in the wake of fiery attacks by Hillary Clinton.

Privately, Sanders’ aides and allies feel that Clinton is trying to bait them after she reiterated in a Hollywood Reporter article that “nobody likes” the Vermont senator, and refused to commit to supporting him if he wins the primary. In her remarks, published two weeks before the Iowa caucuses, they see a political establishment that is trying to stop him as he rises in early-state polling.

Yet it was more important to regain control of its message after a week-long whirlwind featuring unplanned spats with Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and now his 2016 rival.

Sanders’ campaign told staffers internally to not discuss Clinton’s comments, and Sanders released a statement saying he is focusing on impeachment and that “together, we” will defeat President Donald Trump. His aides are also urging his online fans to volunteer for him instead of tweeting about Clinton.

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