Sen. Bernie Sanders gave a partial defense of Fidel Castro’s decades-long dictatorial rule in Cuba, telling "60 Minutes" that "It's unfair to simply say everything is bad" with the way the late despot ran the country, CNN reproted.
"We're very opposed to the authoritarian nature of Cuba but you know, it's unfair to simply say everything is bad,” said Sanders, who describes himself as a Democratic socialist and has solidified his position as the front-runner for his party’s presidential nomination after winning Saturday’s Nevada caucuses.
Sanders pointed out on "60 Miniutes" that "When Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing? Even though Fidel Castro did it?"
The senator made the remark in response to a question about comments he made in the 1980s that Cubans didn't try to overthrow Castro, who died in 2016, due to improvements in education and healthcare.
When host Anderson Cooper pointed to the large number of dissidents jailed in Cuba, Sanders responded, "That's right. And we condemn that," adding that, unlike President Donald Trump, “ I do not think that Kim Jong Un is a good friend. I don't trade love letters with a murdering dictator.”
Sanders was criticize by members of his own party, with Florida Rep. Donna Shalala tweeting that “ I'm hoping that in the future, Senator Sanders will take time to speak to some of my constituents before he decides to sing the praises of a murderous tyrant like Fidel Castro.”
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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