This morning Mr Sanders announced he intended to try again to become the Democratic Party’s Presidential candidate, having previously lost out to Hilary Clinton in 2016. However, his presidential bid has been attacked by the Trump campaign team, which has said he would “coddle dictatorships” like Venezuela if elected leader of the free world. In a statement, Mr Trump’s team said: “Bernie Sanders has already won the debate in the Democrat primary, because every candidate is embracing his brand of socialism.
“But the American people will reject an agenda of sky-high tax rates, government-run health care and coddling dictators like those in Venezuela.
“Only President Trump will keep America free, prosperous and safe.”
Mr Sanders, 77, chose to make his announcement in a rather low key manner, making the declaration in an email sent to supporters.
Echoing his 2016 campaign, he pledged to build a vast grassroots movement to confront the special interests that he said dominate government and politics.
Making an unapologetic left-of-centre pitch for voters’ support, he promised universal healthcare, raising the minimum wage, and free public college tuition.
Referring to his policy agenda, he said: “Three years ago, when we talked about these and other ideas, we were told that they were ‘radical’ and ‘extreme’.
“Together, you and I and our 2016 campaign began the political revolution. Now, it is time to complete that revolution and implement the vision that we fought for.”
He added: “Our campaign is about creating a government and economy that works for the many, not just the few.”
In an interview with Vermont Public Radio, the Vermont senator promised a “very different campaign” in an effort to unseat Republican President Donald Trump.
Mr Sanders’ shucked pundits in 2016 with the wide-spread support for his policies.
Originally seen as an outsider for the Democratic candidate nomination, he ended up capturing 23 state nominating contests.
This time around, Sanders has been among the leaders in opinion polls of prospective 2020 candidates, but he faces other liberal progressives touting many of the same ideas he brought into the party mainstream.
A former mayor of Burlington, Vermont, Sanders won a US House of Representatives seat in 1990, making him the first independent elected to the House in 40 years.
In 2006, he won a US Senate seat and in 2018 was voted in for a third six-year term.
The primaries and caucuses that determine the party’s nominee will begin in February 2020 in Iowa, and the Democratic winner is likely to face Mr Trump in the general election in November.
More to follow…