Sanders defends repeating similar 2016 platform

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday defended his 2020 presidential campaign platform, which bears strong similarities to his 2016 White House bid. 

“It’s not me that’s being repetitious, it is what is going on in society continues to favor the people who have the wealth and the power while all over this country people are working two or three jobs,” Sanders said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

WATCH: Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders responds to criticism that his 2020 campaign sounds a lot like it did in 2016 #MTP #IfItsSunday @BernieSanders: “It’s not me that’s being repetitious. It is what is going on in society.” pic.twitter.com/6HRE1RRPpQ

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) July 14, 2019

Host Chuck Todd asked Sanders how he’s accepting advice that he needs to rework his message, which some feel is too similar to his previous unsuccessful primary bid. 

“You know what Chuck, here’s the promise I will make to you. When the poor get richer and the rich get poorer, when all of our people have health care as a right, when we are leading the world in the fight against climate change, you know I will change what I’m saying,” Sanders said. 

Sanders’s progressive platform in 2016 in many ways shifted the party left.{mosads}

Many of his proposals, which at the time seemingly too left for the Democratic base, have been embraced by candidates across the crowded field. 

Sanders has been a leading champion for Medicare for All and has lead the call to offer free college tuition and student debt forgiveness. 

“I understand that I keep hammering away at [those issues], because I believe in the wealthiest country in the history of the world we don’t need 45 million people struggling with student debt, kids can’t afford to go to college,” he said. “Those are the issues I will continue to talk about, and those are the issues we will win on.”