Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will announce on Thursday that he's running for president as a Democrat, according to Vermont Public Radio.
He'll be the only nationally known candidate to run as a Democrat aside from Hillary Clinton, who has faced significant challenges given her role in the Benghazi attack, questions about her use of personal email, and what many say is her questionable accumulation of family wealth.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is expected to announce a run for the White House on Thursday. Photo Credit: Getty Images
Sanders can be expected to get heavy support from left-leaning Democrats who have fought for issues such as more wealth for the lower and middle classes, and against the concentration of wealth among the super-wealthy and major banks.
Vermont Public Radio also noted that Sanders is a big opponent of traditional trade agreements, a factor that will play into the next few years as President Barack Obama looks to wrap up a major trade deal with Asia called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP.
"If you want to understand why the middle class in America is disappearing and why we have more wealth and income inequality in America than we have had since the late 1920s, you have to address the issue of trade," Sanders told VPR. "So, I think that Hillary Clinton and every candidate out there should in fact address whether or not they support this TPP."
So far, all the major candidates from both parties are either senators or former senators, such as Clinton. The only three nationally known GOP candidates are Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
