Senator Bernie Sanders (Independent, R-Vermont) speaks on the second day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on August 20, 2024.
Mike Seeger | Reuters
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said Sunday that Vice President Kamala Harris should raise her proposed 28% tax rate on long-term capital gains, marking the latest divergence from the Democratic presidential candidate’s economic policies.
“I would ask for a higher amount than that,” Sanders told NBC. “Meet the Press” Regarding Harris’ proposed capital gains tax rate, he said, “I think she’s being pragmatic and trying to do what she thinks is right to win the election. My own view is a little bit different.”
Harris on Wednesday announced a plan to raise the tax rate on long-term capital gains – assets held for more than a year – to 28 percent from the current top rate of 20 percent.
The proposal softened the party’s policy on tax reform.
President Joe Biden previously proposed a capital gains tax rate of 39.6% in his 2025 budget. In 2016, Sanders ran for the Democratic presidential nomination on an even higher platform of 54.2%.
Sanders said Harris’ economic policies should include higher taxes on the wealthy.
“I think what we need in a vice president is a strong policy agenda that speaks to working people,” he said.
Sanders has consistently spoken out against billionaire influence in politics, even as Ms. Harris has cultivated relationships with big donors. Ms. Harris has also attracted support from Mark Cuban, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and dozens of other wealthy business leaders.
“Am I concerned about billionaire influence over the Democratic Party? I really am, just as much as I am about the Republican Party,” he said.
Sanders has endorsed Harris since she launched her campaign in July after Biden withdrew and endorsed her, but has been lukewarm in his support for her economic policies.
In addition to tax reform, Sanders has openly opposed Harris’ shift in support to Medicare for All, a proposal that would provide free public health care to all Americans, a plan she supported during her first presidential campaign in 2019.
Harris is backing away from some of her more progressive positions from 2019 in an effort to garner support from broad, undecided, centrist voters who will likely decide the outcome of the race.
For example, the vice president welcomed the endorsement of former Republican vice president Dick Cheney and his daughter, former congresswoman Liz Cheney, the latest in a string of prominent Republican figures to push back against the Trump administration.
Sanders’ lack of enthusiasm for his economic policies could work to Harris’ advantage as she seeks broader centrist support. The distance between her and Sanders, contrasting her with one of the most progressive members of Congress, could help her counter attacks by Trump, who calls Harris a “conservative.” “Far-left madman”
Despite their policy differences, Sanders supported her campaign and expressed more enthusiasm for her goals of building more affordable housing and strengthening union protections.
“Certainly her views are not my own, but I do consider her to be a progressive,” Sanders said.
