Joe Biden Embraces Bernie Sanders Amid Discontent Over Gaza

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden, facing increasing pressure from the left wing of his party to get tougher on Israel and change its military campaign in Gaza, spent Wednesday rhetorically and literally embracing one of his fiercest critics on the issue, hosting an event at the White House where he and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders celebrated a recent victory over the prescription drug lobby.

Sanders, an independent who ran against Biden in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, has repeatedly urged the president to stop sending military aid to Israel unless it ceases its bombing campaign and allows more humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The event focused on Biden’s actions to lower the costs of prescription drugs, including the cost of asthma inhalers — a major legislative victory Democrats are hoping voters will remember in November’s elections. Lowering health care costs is also a huge priority for Sanders, who has prioritized it during his tenure as chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

“Finally, we beat Big Pharma,” Biden said on Wednesday, before heaping praise on Sanders. “I wouldn’t have done it without Bernie. Bernie is the one who has been leading the way for decades which is why we’re here today.

“Bernie and I have been doing this work for a long time. I know we don’t look it. But we have,” he quipped about his fellow octogenarian.

Sanders, in turn, thanked Biden and said he was looking forward to continue working with him on drug pricing in the future.

“These companies, as well as many others in the pharmaceutical industry, are beginning to catch on to the fact that the American people are tired of being ripped off and paying astronomical prices