CHARLESTON, S.C. — For more than an hour on Sunday, Sen. Bernie Sanders instructed a full College of Charleston’ gymnasium on the need to raise the minimum wage, the importance of his “Medicare for All” proposal, criminal justice reform and protecting undocumented immigrants.
Conspicuously absent from his remarks was any mention of former Vice President Joe Biden, who, just hours earlier, Sanders had bashed on social media for praising the pharmaceutical industry during a Saturday fundraiser.
Biden had said that except for a “couple opioid outfits,” there are “great drug companies out there” during a dinner with donors in Dallas.
Hours later, Sanders lashed out in a statement that “pharmaceutical companies are greedy, corrupt and engaged in price fixing.”
At the event in Charleston, however, Sanders didn’t mention the former vice president once — despite the fact that Biden appears to have South Carolina sewn up. A recent poll has the Vermont senator 25 points behind Biden’s lead of 43%.
Sanders had planned to spend several days in South Carolina, but pulled out of the state after he lost his voice.
The closest Sanders came to striking out at Biden was during his health care spiel.
Sanders told the crowd of 800 — made up predominantly of young white people — that politicians, drug companies and private insurers have continued to attack him for his Medicare for All legislation.
“They will tell you how terrible I am. How terrible Medicare for All is. How the insurance companies and the drug companies love the American people,” Sanders said.
“Don’t believe a word of that,” he added.
Sanders and Biden have traded barbs on health care, sparring over Medicare for All during last Thursday’s debate. The former vice president made a case for a public option, which would be an extension of the Affordable Care Act and would give Americans the ability to continue to buy private insurance or get access to health care through government programs.
Michael Wukela, Sanders’ South Carolina communications director, said Sanders was unconcerned about catching up to Biden in the polls.
“We don’t look at it that way,” Wukela drawled. “I can’t remember a poll that turned out right in South Carolina.”
Sanders was among friends at the Charleston event. Most of the people who came to hear him speak were already converts.
“Charleston is not reflective of South Carolina. Charleston is very different,” said Denise McTighe, who had already made her mind up she would support Sanders.
“I have generally been a Bernie supporter. Last time and this time, and frankly, he’s the only candidate that I give any money to,” said Charles Feeley said this was the third Sanders rally he’d attended.
After hearing Sanders speak, Suzy Hardwicke said she thought he would make a “wonderful president” and said he would do well in the South Carolina Democratic contest, but was unsure how he would fare against President Donald Trump.
“For some reason, the people of South Carolina are just not open to what the Democrats have to say, which is unfortunate because I really think that a lot of them could benefit,” Hardwicke said.
Before the event started, as people began to line up in front of the building’s red brick facade — which seemed at odds with the classic southern architecture elsewhere on campus — a pair of couples walked past the young Sanders supporters.
“I saw Bernie at the bar. He said free drinks for everybody,” one of the men heckled the crowd, “Who’s paying?”
No one answered.
