Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders ripped Joe Biden for his vote in favor of the Iraq War, during the final debate before the Iowa caucuses.
Sanders, 78, explained that he was one of the only senators to vote against going to war in Iraq, while 77-year-old Biden supported the Bush administration’s decision to send in troops. During the CNN/Des Moines Register debate on Tuesday night, Sanders was asked how his record differed from Biden’s since he voted to go to war in Afghanistan.
Sanders replied, “It’s a little bit of a difference. On that particular vote, every single member of the House, including myself, voted for it. Only Barbara Lee voted against it. But what I understood right away, in terms of the war in Iraq, the difference here is that the war in Iraq turned out to be the worst foreign policy blunder in the modern history of this country.”
“As Joe well knows, we lost 4,500 brave troops, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis died,” he added. “We have spent trillions of dollars on that endless war, money which should go into health care and education and infrastructure in this country. Joe and I listened to what Dick Cheney and George Bush and Rumsfeld had to say. I thought they were lying. I didn’t believe them for a moment. I took it to the floor. I did everything I could to prevent that war. Joe saw it differently.”
[Read more: Biden falsely claiming he turned against Iraq War ‘the moment’ invasion was launched]
Sanders has been leading Biden in Iowa in recent polls, but the former vice president has the lead in nationwide polls. The Vermont senator has been using his foreign policy voting record as one of his foundational arguments against Biden.
