Obama says Biden's, Sanders' goals 'not that different'

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Former President Barack Obama said in a recent interview that from a "40,000-foot level" Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders have similar policy goals.

“If you look at Joe Biden’s goals and Bernie Sanders’s goals, they’re not that different, from a forty-thousand-foot level. They both want to make sure everybody has health care," he said in an interview with the New Yorker. "They want to make sure everybody can get a job that pays a living wage. They want to make sure every child gets a good education.”

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(The Associated Press)

However, Obama suggested that during his political career Biden has moved on some key issues because "circumstances have changed.”

“A lot of times, the issue has to do with ‘How do we go about that, and what are the coalitions we need?’ ” the former president said. “What I think the moment has done is to change some of those calculations, not because necessarily Joe’s changed but because circumstances have changed."

And although there is a divide in the Democratic Party between progressives and moderates, the former president stressed that means "you tolerate, listen to, and embrace folks who are different than you, and try to get them in the fold."

"You work with not just liberal Democrats, but you work with conservative Democrats— and you are willing to compromise on issues," he added, underscoring his point that the party has to work together.

Sanders ended his presidential bid in April and backed Biden as the Democratic nominee to challenge President Trump in a general election campaign that will be waged against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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