Bernie Sanders says Harris is dropping far-left policies ‘to win election’

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) gave a candid answer when asked about the position of Vice President Kamala Harris, who has changed her progressive positions with less than two months to go before the November election.

“She used to support Medicare-For-All, now she doesn’t. She used to support a ban on fracking, now she doesn’t. These, Senator, are ideas that you campaigned on. Do you think she’s giving up her progressive ideals?” NBC host Kristen Welker asked Sanders on “Meet the Press.”

“No, I don’t think she’s giving up her ideals,” he replied. “I think she’s trying to be pragmatic and do what she thinks is right to win the election.”

HARRIS CHANGES KEY POSITIONS ON BORDER, ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AS CAMPAIGN PROMISES ‘PRAGMATIC’ PLAN TO APPROACH

Since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris has distanced herself from the far-left policies on immigration, energy and health care that she previously embraced.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Vice President Harris was being “pragmatic” by dropping her far-left policies “to win the election.”

When asked to defend her changing policy positions during her first interview as nominee in August, Harris said her “values ​​haven’t changed.”

“I think the most important and significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is that my values ​​have not changed,” Harris told CNN’s Dana Bash. “You mentioned the Green New Deal. I’ve always believed, and I’ve worked to believe, that the climate crisis is real, that it’s an urgent issue that we need to apply metrics to that mean we hold ourselves to deadlines. And we did that with the Inflation Reduction Act.”

“We have set targets for the United States of America, and by extension for the entire world, about when we have to meet certain standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Harris continued.

“That value has not changed. My value around what we need to do to secure our border, that value has not changed. I spent two terms as Attorney General of California prosecuting transnational criminal organizations, violations of U.S. laws regarding the passage, illegal passage, of guns, drugs, people across our border. My values ​​have not changed,” she said.

Sanders told NBC that his views are “a little different” than Harris’, but he still sees her as a “progressive woman” with similar goals.

49 DAYS: KAMALA HARRIS HAS NOT HELD A FORMAL PRESS CONFERENCE SINCE HER EMERGENCY AS DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Vice President Kamala Harris. (Getty Images)

“She has a different approach to getting to universal health care,” Sanders said of Harris’s end to Medicare-For-All.

“But again, I think on issues like expanding Medicare, expanding Social Security and lifting the cap on taxable income that the wealthy have put in place so that we can increase Social Security benefits… the need to raise the minimum wage from a starvation wage of $7.25 to a living wage… I think if you campaign on those issues, ask questions about billionaires, you know what? She’s going to win, and I think she can win big,” he continued.

Sanders reiterated that he views Harris as “progressive,” before listing the policies he both supports.

“Look, she and I — she’s not where I am, but I think, for example, when she’s talking about making the child benefit permanent, and you know, we did that in the American Rescue Plan. We reduced child poverty by 40 percent. Kristen, we should not be the richest country in the world with one of the highest rates of child poverty. When she’s talking about 3 million affordable homes, that’s a huge deal because we have a huge housing crisis in America. When she’s talking about passing the PRO Act to make it easier for workers to join unions, that’s a huge deal because we need to expand the union movement so that workers can earn decent wages. So yes, her views may not be my views, but I do consider her to be a progressive,” he added.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Harris’ campaign team for comment.

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Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, step off their campaign bus in Savannah, Georgia, Aug. 28, 2024, as they travel through Georgia for a two-day campaign bus tour. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

A campaign spokesperson previously confirmed to Fox News Digital that Harris had changed some of her key policy positions and was taking a “pragmatic” approach to “bring all parties together.”

“While Donald Trump is wedded to the extreme ideas in his Project 2025 agenda, Vice President Harris believes that true leadership means bringing all parties together to build consensus,” spokeswoman Mia Ehrenberg said in a statement. “That approach has enabled the Biden-Harris administration to achieve bipartisan breakthroughs on everything from infrastructure to gun violence prevention. As president, she will take the same pragmatic approach, focusing on common sense solutions in the interest of progress.”

A Harris campaign adviser told Fox that her views have been “shaped by three years of effective governance as part of the Biden-Harris administration.”

Harris and former President Trump will meet Tuesday during a debate hosted by ABC News.

Fox News’ Adam Shaw and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.