Julian Castro slams Bernie Sanders on case for reparations: ‘Why wouldn’t you compensate people who actually were property’

The two men are running for the Democratic nomination to take on Donald Trump

Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro has questioned why Bernie Sanders’ scepticism on reparations to address the lasting impacts slavery has had on the United States.

During an interview with CNN’s State of the Union, Mr Castro suggested that reparations could be compared to other big ticket progressive causes that Mr Sanders supports like Medicare for all or free college tuition.

“To my mind that may or may not be the best way to address it,” Mr Castro said. “However, it's interesting to me that when it comes to Medicare for all, health care, you know, the response there has been we need to write a big check, that when it comes to tuition-free or debt-free college, the answer has been we need to write a big check.”

He continued: “And so if the issue is compensating the descendants of slaves, I don't think that the argument about writing a big check ought to be the argument that you make if you're making an argument that a big check needs to be written for a whole bunch of other stuff.“

Mr Sanders was recently asked for his thoughts on reparations, but declined to support the idea.

“I think what we have got to do is pay attention to distressed communities: black communities, Latino communities, and white communities, and as president, I pledge to do that,” Mr Sanders said during an appearance on The View.

When pressed further on reparations, he said, “I think that right now, our job is to address the crises facing the American people and our communities, and I think there are better ways to do that than just writing out a check.”

During his interview with CNN, Mr Castro wondered how the idea of paying descendants of slaves is much different from paying landowners through eminent domain.

“If under the Constitution we compensate people because we take their property, why wouldn’t you compensate people who actually were property?” he said.