Bernie Sanders sells big government’s virtues in red states

By WILL WEISSERT and DARRON CUMMINGS
Associated Press

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Bernie Sanders has long argued that steep federal spending and bigger government can improve the lives of working class Americans and win back the kinds of disaffected, largely white voters who flocked to Donald Trump. The Vermont senator has ventured into Trump country to test theory. He’s swinging through two reliably red states to promote a $3.5 trillion budget proposal that’s packed with progressive initiatives and financed by higher taxes on the rich. Sanders held a town hall in West Lafayette, Indiana, on Friday evening. He has another on Sunday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Sanders chose two congressional districts where Trump’s vote totals increased between 2016 and 2020.