During a CNN town hall Monday, 2020 Democrat frontrunner Bernie Sanders doubled down on his partial defense of Fidel Castro’s Cuban revolution, stating bluntly “The truth is the truth.”
Bernie Sanders:
When Fidel Castro first came to power…he initiated a major literacy program. There were a lot of folks in Cuba at that point who were illiterate, and he formed a literacy brigade…they went out and they helped people learn to read and write.
You know what? I think teaching people to read and write is a good thing. I have been extremely consistent and critical of all authoritarian regimes all over the world, including Cuba, including Nicaragua, including Saudi Arabia, including China, including Russia.
I happen to believe in democracy, not authoritarianism. But, you know, you can’t say — China is another example. China is an authoritarian country, becoming more and more authoritarian.
But can anyone deny — I mean, the facts are clear, that they have taken more people out of extreme poverty than any country in history.
WATCH:
Responding to Bernie’s reasoning, rival Pete Buttigieg said “Of course literacy is a good thing, but why are we spotlighting the literacy programs of a brutal dictator instead of being unambiguous in our condemnation about the way he was treating his own people?”
This article first appeared on TheConservativeOpinion.com
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