Bernie Sanders spoke about his faith during Sunday's Democratic debate in Flint, Michigan.
Bernie Sanders spoke about how proud he is to be Jewish during Sunday’s Democratic debate in Flint, Michigan.
When asked about his religious beliefs, the Vermont senator said: “I’m very proud to be Jewish. Being Jewish is so much of what I am.”
His father’s relatives were “wiped out by Hitler in the Holocaust," he said.
“I know about what crazy and radical and extremist politics mean," he told the crowd. "I learned that lesson as a tiny, tiny child when my mother would take me shopping, and we would see people working in stores who had numbers on their arms because they were in Hitler's concentration camps.
“I'm very proud of being Jewish. And that's an essential part of who I am as a human being.”
Read: See the Home Where Bernie Sanders Grew Up
Viewers responded to the "moving" way Sanders spoke about his faith.
This is the first time I've heard Sanders talk about being Jewish, and he's very moving about it and about his family and the Holocaust.
— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) March 7, 2016
Very strong answer from Sanders on his Jewish heritage.
— John Cassidy (@JohnCassidy) March 7, 2016
This is the first time I've heard Sanders talk about being Jewish, and he's very moving about it and about his family and the Holocaust.
— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) March 7, 2016
Watch: Bernie Sanders Makes History as First Jewish Politician to Win a Primary
