Bernie Sanders welcomed President Obama’s plan to shut down the prison at Guantanomo Bay and challenged Hillary Clinton to do the same.
“I am encouraged to see that the president is sending Congress a plan to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison. As I have said for years, the prison at Guantanamo must be closed as quickly as possible,” Sanders said in a statement Tuesday morning. “Others, including my opponent, have not always agreed with me.”
Sanders’ comments in agreement with Obama come as Clinton continues to accuse the Vermont senator of not fully supporting the president. Sanders is positioning himself as a defender of the president on this issue while Clinton has not always agreed.
The Vermont senator visited the prison during a 2014 trip to Cuba and was also one of three senators to vote in against barring the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to America in 2007. At the time, Hillary Clinton voted to keep the prison open. The former secretary of state has yet to comment on Obama’s latest proposal
“Guantanamo has damaged the United States’ moral standing and undermined our foreign policy,” Sanders added.
