Bernie Sanders blasts critics claiming he's 'too old' to run: 'Follow me around the campaign trail'
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Sen. Bernie Sanders has six words for voters who doubt he's sprightly enough to run for president a second time: "Follow me around the campaign trail."
The 77-year-old Vermont senator is one of the oldest candidates to enter the 2020 race, but to Sanders, age is just a number.
"It is a fair question. It is a fair question," Sanders said during Monday night's Fox News town hall after Martha MacCallum asked what he would tell constituents who say he's "too old" to be president.
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The audience applauded as Sanders stood up from his stool.
"If there was wood here, I'd knock on it," joked Sanders. "Thank God my health is good."
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Sanders then pointed to his track record — literally — noting that he was a long distance runner as a kid and one of the "better milers" in New York City, where he grew up.
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"I've continued to have my endurance," he said.
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But Sanders said his experience in government is really all that matters.
Sanders has served as Vermont's senator since 2007. Before that, he spent 16 years as a lawmaker in the U.S. House of Representatives. His combined years of service in the government makes him the longest-serving Independent member of Congress ever, according to his official bio.
His political career started in 1981 when he was elected mayor of Burlington by just 10 votes.
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"I've been all over the world talking to heads of state. It's a combination of factors. But at the end of the day, it's not whether you're young or whether you're old — it's what you believe in," argued Sanders.
"There's too much focus on individuals and not enough focus on Americans and what their needs are," he added.