Bernie Sanders has been hard at work fighting for workers rights, among other things. On Friday morning, Sanders proposed an amendment to the $2 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that would raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 — which he called a "starvation wage" — to $15. The Senate ultimately rejected the demand for a $15 minimum wage.
But that's not all that Sen. Sanders has been advocating for. He has also apparently taken up young people's romantic futures as a cause. "@SenSanders on the Senate floor saying we must crush COVID-19 so that young people can start dating again (among a long list of other reasons)," Tara Golshan, a reporter for the Huffington Post, tweeted yesterday.
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That's right: Bernie is advocating for us to get back to dating. The politician's statement on Thursday summed up the mass devastation and suffering that the pandemic has caused — which goes beyond just financial instability and into mental health and well-being.
"COVID has not only caused massive death and illness, it has resulted in social isolation … All over this country, you've got old people, elderly people, in their homes, they can't interact with their grandchildren, with their own kids, with their friends," he said. "You've got young people, [who] want to go to school, want to socialize, want to date, want to do things that young people do. And they can't do that or have been unable to do that for the last year, and that has resulted in a very sharp increase in mental illness in this country, something, by the way, this legislation also deals with."
As a result of Sanders' pro-dating stance, many Twitter users voiced support for the Senator, who is truly looking out for our sex lives, as it turns out. "Glad Bernie believes in my dating potential even if I don't," one responded. But that's Bernie, for you: always believing in our potential. And that's been true since before 2021 and for the duration of the pandemic.
Sanders has continued to advocate for a more robust stimulus package, as well as higher minimum wage for workers. Last March, he largely shifted his political focus into advocating for pandemic relief and has continued to stress the bipartisanship of COVID-19 aid in the Senate.
What's clear is that Bernie's support extends beyond just what's in our bank accounts or pockets: He wants us to have our summer of love, too. (And maybe do so in some custom-made mittens).