Sanders ex-aides forge ahead with super PAC even as he distances himself

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Staffers and senior aides of Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign have formed a PAC to rally the support of progressives behind the presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden.

The PAC conflicts squarely with the long-held ideology of the Independent Vermont senator, who has denounced candidates who rely on the support of wealthy donors. On the campaign trail, he frequently touted his ability to raise campaign funds with single-dollar donations from voters.

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But Biden is already supported by a number of PACs and the newest initiative, called Future to Believe In, promises to rally around liberal voters, blue-collar progressives, Latinos and young voters who previously supported Sanders, in an attempt to widen Biden's base as he seeks to usurp President Trump in November's presidential elections.

Despite using Sanders' ideological blueprint, however, a former spokesperson for the Sanders campaign, Mike Casca, said the "effort is completely independent of him and his campaign."

"Sen. Sanders has always opposed the creation of super PAC, and his position has not changed," Casca said on Twitter.

At the helm of the new venture is Jeff Weaver, a senior adviser to the Sanders 2020 campaign, with involvement from Chuck Rocha, another senior adviser who headed Latino outreach, as well as Tim Tagaris, a digital fundraising strategist, and Shelli Jackson, the campaign's deputy director in California.

“At this moment we can lock in political gains progressives have made possible through our collective work,” Weaver said in a statement. “We believe it is wrong to abandon the gains earned by the hard-working people who supported Bernie Sanders’ two presidential and who will continue to support economic and social progress through electoral action and non-electoral organizing long into the future.”

Sanders dropped out of the presidential race in early April and threw his support behind Biden, a move that contrasts from 2016 -- when Democrats decried that Sanders failed to rally his supporters around Hilary Clinton, who became the party's presidential nominee.

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Biden has piggybacked off of progressive ideals introduced on the campaign trail by Sanders and fellow progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., promising to expand health insurance coverage under Medicare, cancel student loans for millions of Americans and overhaul the nation’s bankruptcy laws.

A major caveat in Biden's agenda continues to be "Medicare-for-All," which he has refused to throw his weight behind even as its popularity has risen with some Americans during the coronavirus outbreak.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.