President warns socialism poses serious threat, critiques Bernie Sanders' posture

When a reporter noted Bernie Sanders said he might be a poster child for socialist candidates, the president said he considered socialism—and what he called social democracy—to be a major threat to the nation.

"I think it's a big threat to our nation, actually," the president said, calling socialism "really communism" in his view and arguing that it was the "biggest threat" since major national crises. He urged skepticism of social democratic proposals and said the "smart people" would agree with his assessment. The comment was presented as the president's political assessment of ideological risks; reporters did not present evidence or counterarguments in the session.