Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) endorsed Joe Biden in a livestream on April 13, and asked for Americans to “come together” to support the former vice president.
And now, some of his former top advisors seem to be acting on that advice — announcing a new political action committee that seeks to help elect Biden.
In an email sent to supporters on Tuesday, they announced the new “Future to Believe In” PAC. The title is a play off Bernie’s 2016 policy book “Our Revolution: A Future to Believe in.”
They said that their mission is to “organize Sanders’ base to turn out for Biden and push for long-term progressive gains.”
The PAC is being led by Jeff Weaver, a powerful figure in Bernie-world, who managed the Vermont senator’s 2016 campaign and was a senior adviser in 2020. Chuck Rocha a top Bernie-aligned political strategist, and Bernie’s fundraising guru Tim Tagaris are also working with “Future to Believe In.”
In their email, they explained “Future to Believe In” will be governed by an experienced team of former staff of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaigns, who over the next six months are committing to organize and turn out the Bernie base with a focus on young voters of all races, very liberal voters, blue collar progressives, and Latino voters in support of Joe Biden. “
Weaver is quoted in the email as saying, “Electing Joe Biden as President of the United States will allow some of those gains to be institutionalized so that our movement can focus on pushing the debate even further in years to come.”
While the PAC is stacked with powerful pedigrees, they won’t have access to Bernie Sanders’ massive email list, according to a report from the New York Times.
Weaver also told the Times that Bernie is “not supportive” of the PAC.
UPDATE: Just spoke to Jeff Weaver.
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) April 28, 2020
He told me Bernie Sanders "is not supportive of this super PAC.”
Weaver added, "He certainly would prefer we had not done it through a super PAC" but "each of us has to make our own decision about how to move forward.” https://t.co/XhDUDLuBGj
Not all former Sanders aides are getting behind Biden. Sanders’ former spokeswoman, Briahna Joy Gray, has said frequently that she will not support Joe Biden. But Sanders called that approach “irresponsible” and noted that Gray no longer works for him.