Bernie Sanders shuns Mark Levin debate: Scared of being grilled over his Castro crush?

Mark Levin has repeatedly invited Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on “LevinTV” to debate him over Sanders’ long list of socialist policies, like government-run health care, punitive wealth taxes, and union-heavy labor schemes. Many public invitations have been extended, but every time — crickets.

Is he just too busy rallying Trump haters on his "Fighting Oligarchy" tour? Or is he scared Mark will wipe the floor with him?

Perhaps he’s hesitant because he knows he’ll be skewered over his fascination with communist dictators — like his lauding of the tyrannical Cuban despot Fidel Castro back in 2020 during a "60 Minutes" interview and subsequent CNN town hall.

Following his controversial statement in the interview that it’s “unfair to simply say everything [about Castro’s Cuba] is bad,” Sanders doubled down in the town hall.

“When Fidel Castro first came to power ... you know what he did? He initiated a major literacy program,” Sanders retorted.

“There was a lot of folks in Cuba at that point who were illiterate, and he formed a literacy brigade. ... They went out, and they helped people learn to read and write. You know what I think? Teaching people to read and write is a good thing,” he added.

“Wow, a literacy program,” mocks Levin. “But you weren't allowed to read what you wanted to read. You weren't allowed to say what you wanted to say. There was no right to speech, free speech, or any other kind of speech unless it was dictated by the government.”

Castro, he reminds, was “a genocidal maniac who was killing people and throwing them in prison,” and his “literacy brigades” were “filled with people who had allegiance to [him] and the communists.”

“They were not just going into homes to teach literacy. They were going in their homes to spy,” says Levin.

Sanders caveated his praise of Castro’s literacy initiative by arguing he’s been “critical of all authoritarian regimes all over the world,” including Cuba’s, but Levin calls him a “a liar.”

“He used to defend all the communist leaders. Now, he's got a little more clever in his extremely old age,” he corrects.

“He supported the communist leader in Nicaragua. ... He supported the communist leader in Cuba. He supported the communist leader in the old Soviet Union when he honeymooned in Moscow,” Levin adds.

Sanders capped his defense of Castro by arguing, “I happen to believe in democracy, not authoritarianism.”

“No, he doesn't believe in democracy,” says Levin, citing George Orwell’s 1946 essay “Politics and the English Language,” in which he argued that political language is often manipulated by authoritarians to mask their wicked ends.

Sanders is “a Stalinist,” he says.

“This is why Bernie Sanders won't come on any of my shows. He will not come on any of my shows because he knows I'm going to question him.”

To see the clip of Sanders and hear more of Levin’s commentary, watch the clip above.

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