Sanders plans to weave family story into first major 2020 speech

By Gregory Krieg, CNN
Updated 6:10 PM ET, Fri March 1, 2019


Excerpt:

Sen. Bernie Sanders at a campaign rally on Saturday will deliver some of his most deeply personal remarks since emerging as a national political figure, according to excerpts provided to CNN by a campaign source.

Casting his own family's working class struggles against President Donald Trump's childhood as the son of a wealthy real estate developer, Sanders is expected to tell supporters at Brooklyn College, "I did not have a mom and dad who gave me millions of dollars to build luxury skyscrapers and casinos and country clubs. But I had something more valuable: I had the role model of a father who had unbelievable courage in journeying across an ocean, with no money in his pocket and not knowing a word of English."

Sanders has spoken at times and written occasionally about his youth in Brooklyn, where he was raised in a small, rent-controlled apartment the decade after World War II. But his refusal to weave it more deeply into his campaign message, or address his family history in a political context, has been a source of frustration among some of his allies, who are desperate for the 77-year-old to articulate a fuller picture of his life to voters. Aides say that in a pair of speeches this weekend, the second coming on Sunday night in Chicago -- where he graduated from college and became an activist in the heat of the Civil Rights movement -- that will change.

"I did not come from a family that had the power to go on television to entertain people by telling workers: 'You're fired,'" Sanders is expected to say on Saturday, a shot at Trump that aligns with his broader message. "I came from a family who knew all too well the frightening power employers can have over everyday workers."

"People need to know how he got to where he is right now, what makes him tick," Sanders campaign co-chair Nina Turner told CNN on Friday morning. "All of us have stories, everybody has a story and our stories are our strength, our stories are what connect us. So (people) need to hear his biography from him."

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/01/politics/bernie-sanders-personal-story-new-york-brooklyn-college/index.html