On Tuesday, the 2016 Democratic primary runner-up and Vermont independent, Bernie Sanders, announced on Vermont Public Radio that he will be running for president in the 2020 presidential election. The self-proclaimed democratic socialist has not stopped fighting for what he believes in since President Donald Trump got elected into office, and he plans to enter the race to make a difference on a much larger scale. In just 24 hours after the launch of his campaign, he managed to raise 6 million dollars. This campaign debut broke records in the political world, and even gained attention from our current president; Trump’s campaign texted his supporters saying, “Socialist Bernie Sanders raised $6 MILLION in 24 HOURS. Now I’m calling on you to CRUSH that number.” Sanders is known for his beliefs in free healthcare, a $15.00 minimum wage, free higher education, and much more. Regarding his announcement, the 69 year-old politician stated, “Our campaign is about transforming our country and creating a government based on the principles of economic, social, radical, and environmental justice.”

During the 2016 election, Sanders’ classic fist in the air and “A Future To Believe In” campaign effort wasn’t enough for him to conquer the election. But, he did make a lot of headway on his own these past few years as a senator in Vermont. For instance, he landed an article opportunity with Fortune magazine where he outlined his health care proposal “Medicare-for-all” which he intends to push throughout his presidential run in 2020. Sanders also continued to support protests that deal with equality issues in America, which he has been doing since before he was ever in congress. Furthermore, he has continued to have a strong voice among the American people and was even nominated for a grammy in the spoken-word category for his album with Mark Ruffalo titled “Our Revolution: A Future To Believe In”. The leftist then won the re-election to the US Senate for a third term with more than 67% of the vote on November 6th, 2018.

Many of the American people in 2016 believed that most of Sanders’ ideas were rather “too radical” and “out there”, which was one of the main problems he faced during the race. He even stated during an interview, “Three years ago, during our 2016 campaign, when we brought forth our progressive agenda we were told that our ideas were ‘radical’ and ‘extreme,’” But with all of the controversy surrounding the current president’s recent endeavours, more American voters are starting to support Sanders and listen to what he has to say. His social media presence has grown immensely since the announcement, as he has been frequently posting videos of his ideas and intentions with the 2020 election. Yet even though he has gained more positive attention from the public, Sanders realizes that this time around the circumstances are much different. In his own party, he will be going up against a large group of diverse and well-known candidates; such as Elizabeth Warren, a former law professor and current senator of Massachusetts. Off to a record-breaking start, many Americans are interested to see how things will go for Sanders in 2020.