Bernie Sanders warns 'authoritarianism has taken root in this country' as he begs his supporters to back Joe Biden to oust 'not normal' Donald Trump from the White House

Bernie Sanders begged his supporters to vote for Joe Biden in his Monday night speech addressing the virtual Democratic National Convention, giving the at-home audience a dire warning about President Donald Trump. 

'Under this administration, authoritarianism has taken root in our country,' Sanders said. 'This is not normal and we must never treat it like it is.' 

Sanders, who was Biden's final rival in the 2020 Democratic primary and represents the progressive wing of the Democratic party, told his faithful that 'the price of failure is just too great to imagine.' 

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Bernie Sanders begged his supporters to vote for Democrat Joe Biden as he warned that 'authoritarianism has taken root in this country' during the administration of Republican Donald Trump 

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Bernie Sanders (right) endorsed Joe Biden (left) in April, five days after he suspended his presidential bid and spoke at the opening night of this year's virtual Democratic National Convention 

'During this president's term the unthinkable has become reality,' the Vermont senator said, addressing the convention from his home state and in front of stacks of firewood. 'He has tried to prevent people from voting, he has undermined the U.S. Postal Service, deployed the military and federal agents against peaceful protesters, threatened to delay the election and suggested that he will not leave office if he loses.' 

He brought up his Jewish and family's immigrant roots as he talked about the danger he believed another four years of Trump posed. 

'I and my family and many of yours know the insidious way authoritarianism destroys democracy, decency and humanity,' Sanders said. 

'As long as I am here I will work with progressives with moderates and yes, with conservatives, to preserve this nation from a threat that so many of our heroes are born and died to defeat,' he added. 

He then turned to Trump's handling of the coronavirus crisis, saying the current Oval Office occupant and 'put our lives and health in jeopardy.'  

'Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Trump golfs,' Sanders scoffed.  

On the economic front, Sanders railed against Trump for not working harder to make a deal with Congressional Democrats, which left millions of Americans with decreased unemployment benefits and no new stimulus checks as COVID-19 continues to ravage the country and its economy. 

'Trump concocted fraudulent executive orders that do virtually nothing to address the crisis while threatening the very future of Social Security and Medicare,' Sanders argued. 

Sanders also gave reasons for his supporters to vote for Biden, rather than just against Trump.   

'We must build a nation that is more equitable, more compassionate and more inclusive,' Sanders said. 'I know that Joe Biden will begin that fight on day one.' 

Sanders pointed out that Biden supported raising the minimum wage to $15 - a longtime progressive goal - and said he aimed to create 12 weeks of paid family leave, universal pre-K and make childcare more affordable. 

Sanders throws weight behind Biden to stop Trump 'authoritarianism'

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Sanders also mentioned some of Biden's infrastructure goals and how the presumptive Democratic nominee planned to fight climate change while creating green jobs.   

While Biden hasn't been supportive of Medicare-for-all, Sanders pointed out that Biden 'will lower the eligibility age of Medicare from 65 down to 60.' 

'The future of our democracy is at stake. The future of our economy is at stake. The future of our planet is at stake,' Sanders said. 'We must come together, defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as our next president and vice president.' 

Sanders' aim in his Monday night speech was to get the left flank of the party fully onboard Biden's campaign, after taking flak for not exiting the race early enough in 2016 and not campaigning zealously enough for Hillary Clinton. 

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Joe Biden (left) and Bernie Sanders (right) last met on the debate stage on March 15 as the campaigns were already being impacted by the coronavirus crisis. During his DNC remarks, he went after Trump's bungled response 

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Bernie Sanders (right) didn't endorse Hillary Clinton until two weeks before the July 2016 DNC convention four years ago and received flak for not exiting the campaign early enough to get all his supporters to vote for the eventual nominee, who lost to Trump 

This time around, Sanders bowed out on April 8 and endorsed Biden on a Zoom call five days later. 

Sanders had been beaten badly by Biden in South Carolina on February 29 and then again three days later when Biden won 10 of the 14 'Super Tuesday' primaries, making the nomination simply out of reach. 

In 2016, California's Democratic primary wasn't held until June 7, giving Sanders a delegate-rich prize to aim for at the end of the primaries, keeping him in the race. 

Sanders lost to Clinton in California 8 points, though decided to stay in to let Washington, D.C., Democratic voters go to the polls on June 14 before making an announcement about his fate in the race. 

Sanders never ended up officially dropping out, instead endorsing Clinton on July 12, two weeks before the Democratic National Convention. 

At the convention on July 26, 2016, Sanders formally lost the nomination to Clinton. 

Four years later, a number of Sanders' supporters contributed to the Biden campaign's 110-page policy document outlining how the former vice president would lead. 

The Sanders influence has Trump joyfully calling the document a 'manifesto,' but it also proved to progressives that Biden was dedicated to pursuing agenda items, like something close to a 'Green New Deal.'  

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of Sanders' most potent supporters, will speak Tuesday night at the convention, after initially expessing reservations about campaigning for Biden. 

And Jeff Weaver, Sanders' 2016 campaign manager, helped write the speech Biden will deliver Thursday night from Wilmington, according to Politico.