At Long Last, the Story of How Bernie and Cardi B Became Fast Friends Ahead of the 2020 Race

The stars have aligned in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, with artist Cardi B and Sen. Bernie Sanders teaming up in ways that Twitter could have only dreamed. And now Politico has the very hot scoop on how the two connected, which started with Cardi’s GQ interview from last year.

While Cardi encouraged her fans to vote for “daddy Bernie” during the 2016 presidential election, Sanders’ team told Politico the senator wasn’t aware of the rapper until April 2018’s GQ interview, in which Cardi praised Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Social Security Act.

At the time, Sanders’ team struck social media gold after interacting with Cardi’s comment, but this year the two have really bonded, having spoken in person or over the phone “three times in recent months,” according to Sanders aides.

So just what kind of conversations are Cardi and Sanders having? About how to wipe out student loan debt, for one. From Politico:

“I think this is the best thing to do,” Cardi B told Sanders. “A lot of people drop out of colleges and don’t attend college because they can’t afford it, like me. When I was going to a college in the city, I could not afford transportation, food. I was just stuck in the city for hours without eating until my next class.”

“Yup,” Sanders said. “You got a whole lot of people who even drop out of college because they can’t afford it. Then they’re still stuck with a lot of debt that they’re still paying off their whole lives. … And my argument is: We’re going to pay for that by a tax on Wall Street. The American people bailed out Wall Street, you remember, 10 years ago. Well, it’s Wall Street’s time to help the working class of this country.”

Cardi B, who’s worth millions, said: “Well, I’m not involved in Wall Street, so that’s fine with me!”

And also, just chatting about normal everyday things, from Politico again:

At one point during his FaceTime conversation with the rapper, Sanders posed a personal question: “How is motherhood?”

“Motherhood is good,” Cardi B, who has a 1-year-old daughter, replied. “But it’s tough when you’re an artist. It’s like a whole two lives that you have to balance out.”

From the article, it’s clear that the two have formed a bond over their ideas on policy—and a mutual love of FDR—though Politico seems more interested that Cardi has a huge social following for the Sanders campaign to tap into. The site wrote Sanders is “impressed by Cardi B’s intelligence and interest in pushing young people to get engaged in politics.” This comment over Cardi’s smarts could be Politico’s attempt to frame an article that, without analysis, would otherwise read like a transcription of Cardi-Bernie FaceTime calls, though this quote doesn’t exactly help matters:

“He is really struck by how smart she is,” said Rabin-Havt [the chief of staff for Sanders’ presidential campaign]. “He’s repeatedly remarked about how she’s a genius. … He’s commented, ‘You can see some people are just observing everything and understanding and deeply connecting to things.’”

But what fun the rest of this piece is, eh?? So far Cardi’s and Sanders’ calls have led to a video of a conversation between the two in a Detroit nail salon. It’s only a matter of time before Sanders has Cardi moderating mock debates, or Cardi has Sanders answering fan questions for her Instagram Live, I’m guessing.