Sen. Bernie Sanders stepped into a hotbed of cultural conservatism at Liberty University on Monday and bluntly told a capacity crowd of nearly 12,000 people that restricting access to abortion is “improper.”
Speaking here at the largest Christian college in the world, Sanders spent most of his 27-minute address focused on wealth inequality, an issue that is a central piece of his insurgent campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. But he didn’t shy away from the hot-button issues of same-sex marriage and abortion rights, which he laid out at the onset of his speech by saying: “We disagree about those issues.”
Sanders was received politely by the crowd, with a Sanders cheering section enthusiastically erupting whenever the Vermont Independent delved into his stump speech. But those supporters were decidedly in the minority.
It wasn’t until after the speech, during a 17-minute question-and-answer portion, when the crowd was the most enthusiastic. David Nasser, the university’s senior vice president for spiritual development, asked Sanders directly to “reconcile” his view that he wants to safeguard the most vulnerable with protecting “the child in the womb.” A deafening applause erupted for more than 20 seconds.
But Sanders, in his typically stern tone, didn’t shy away and gave a vigorous defense for his views on abortion rights.
“I do understand and I do believe that it is improper for the United States government to tell every women in this country the very painful and difficult choice she has to make on that issue,” Sanders said. “And I honestly, I don’t want to be too provocative here, but very often conservatives say, ‘Get the government out of my life, I don’t want the government telling me what to do.'”
A small section of the crowd cheered in support of Sanders.
Sanders, who is Jewish, ventured onto traditionally Republican territory — the evangelical university founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell — in an attempt to showcase that his economic message could cut across party lines. But at the onset of the speech, he made abundantly clear that their views on social matters like gay rights and access to abortion are ones that there will be disagreement on.
“Let me respectfully suggest that there are other issues out there that are of enormous consequence to our country and in fact to the entire world that maybe, just maybe, we do not disagree on. And maybe, just maybe, we can try to work together in trying to resolve them,” Sanders said. “It would be hard to make the case that we are a just society or anything resembling a just society today,” he continued. “In the United States of America today, there is massive injustice in terms of income and wealth inequality. Injustice is rampant.”
Sanders mainly stuck to his typical stump speech, questioning the morality of billionaires who are growing richer as the working poor continue to struggle. He called for a dramatic increase in the minimum wage, universal health care, government-subsidized tuition at college and for more racially sensitive policing policies in African-American communities.
While there were some Sanders enthusiasts in the crowd, most of whom were not convinced by the self-described socialist’s economic and social agenda.
With Sanders’ support growing in national polling, including in critical early primary states like Iowa and New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton’s campaign is looking at the first Tuesday in March — known as Super Tuesday — to separate herself from Sanders and the rest of the Democratic pack. But Sanders’ appearance here in Virginia — where he also planned to hold Monday events in more progressive areas of the state — showcases how the Vermont independent is not ceding any of these critical Southern battleground states.
The self-described socialist from Vermont offered praise for the Lynchburg, Virginia, school, which earlier this year hosted Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s entrance into the Republican presidential race.
“Liberty University is a religious school, obviously. And all of you are proud of that,” Sanders said.