Briahna Joy Gray, the former press secretary for the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), said Wednesday that progressives “shouldn’t lose sight” of Americans struggling during the pandemic in the aftermath of last week’s riots at the Capitol.
Gray told Hill.TV’s “Rising” that in the wake of the Capitol attacks, she’s seen “a very strong incentive” among progressives to avoid pushing their agenda or challenging President-elect Joe Biden.
“There is almost a desire to close ranks and really protect our Democratic members, particularly our progressive members for reasons that I have a lot of empathy with and understand,” she said.
“But we shouldn’t lose sight of – despite the tragedy at the Capitol – the fact that millions of Americans are enduring tragedy every single day in the context of this pandemic,” she added, citing that 15 million have lost their employer-based health care and many are worried about student loan payments.
“It’s incumbent on progressives and anyone else whose invested in the futures of working class people to continue to press our progressive membership, all of our members of Congress to continue to look out for the interests of all Americans, despite the fact that they’re also roiling from a pretty scary event last Wednesday,” Gray said.
Supporters of President Trump stormed of the Capitol building last week, forcing lawmakers to evacuate and led to at least five deaths.
On Tuesday, the U.S. recorded a record 4,327 COVID-19 fatalities in a single day, bringing the total to more than 380,000 total deaths.
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