Stephen Colbert on Tuesday asked Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) if he’ll miss Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), shortly after she announced she will not run for reelection.
“Not at all,” Sanders told the “Late Show” host.
When asked to explain, Sanders recalled how Sinema blocked elements of Democrats’ Build Back Better package during the pandemic.
“We had 48 people in the Democratic caucus prepared to transform this country on behalf of the working class of America,” he said. “Two people ― Sinema being one, [Joe] Manchin the other ― refused to support us. We couldn’t pass it. So no, I will not miss Senator Sinema.”
Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who is also retiring from the Senate, repeatedly blocked key parts of President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda, including the broader, earlier iteration of the Build Back Better initiative, which faced unified Republican opposition in the evenly divided Senate.
Watch the interview below.