FLASHBACK: Bernie was 'very excited' about Castro revolution

Fidel Castro (Photo: Twitter)

Is Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders a "legit socialist" of the Fidel Castro variety, as one of the Vermont senator's campaign field organizer claimed on undercover video released this week, or a "democratic socialist" who looks to Europe as his model?

Project Veritas captured Kyle Jurek on camera advocating Soviet-style gulags to "de-Nazify" Trump supporters and acknowledging he's among four organizers in his office who could be described as a Marxist or a communist.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. (Wikimedia Commons)

And Sanders himself, he said, is a "legit socialist" who is "masquerading" as a democratic socialist.

During the 2016 campaign, Sanders, who honeymooned in the Soviet Union, was confronted with video from the 1980s showing his praise of the Castro revolution in Cuba and the Sandinistas in Nicaraugua.

At the University of Vermont in 1986, he recalled Cuba being discussed during the famous Kennedy-Nixon televised debate in 1960.

"I remember, for some reason or another, being very excited when Fidel Castro made the revolution in Cuba," said Sanders, who was mayor of Burlington, Vermont, at the time of the speech.

"I was a kid ... and it just seemed right and appropriate that poor people were rising up against rather ugly rich people."

Sanders said he almost had to "puke" when he saw John F. Kennedy push Richard Nixon to be tougher on Cuba.

"For the first time in my adult life, what I was seeing is the Democrats and Republicans ... clearly that there really wasn't a whole lot of difference between the two," he said.

See video of Sanders' praise of Castro in 1986:

In a 1985 interview, he ridiculed the widespread criticism of Castro.

"Everyone was totally convinced Castro was the worst guy in the world," he said. "They forgot that he educated their kids, gave them health care and totally transformed their society."

See Sanders praise the Castro and the Sandinistas in 1985:

During a Democratic presidential candidate debate in Miami in 2016, Sanders was asked by co-moderator Maria Elena Salinas if he "regretted" his praise of Castro and Sandinista guerrilla leader Daniel Ortega.

Sanders dodged the question.

"The key issue here was whether the United States should go around overthrowing small Latin American countries," he said. "I think that that was a mistake ...

Salinas interjected: You didn't answer the question.

Sanders continued: "... both in Nicaragua and Cuba. Look, let's look at the facts here. Cuba is, of course, an authoritarian undemocratic country, and I hope very much as soon as possible it becomes a democratic country. But on the other hand, it would be wrong not to state that in Cuba they have made some good advances in health care. They are sending doctors all over the world. They have made some progress in education. I think by restoring full diplomatic relations with Cuba, it will result in significant improvements to the lives of Cubans and it will help the United States and our business community invest."

See Sanders at the 2016 debate:

Sanders also has defended the iconic bread lines in communist nations.

"It's funny, sometimes American journalists talk about how bad a country is because people are lining up for food. That’s a good thing," he said

"In other countries, people don’t line up for food, rich people get the food and poor people starve to death."

See Sanders defend bread lines:

Burn, baby, burn

Video of remarks by the Sanders organizer Jurek were released Wednesday by Project Veritas as Part II in a series on the election called #Expose2020.

In Part I, Jurek said Soviet-style gulags would be a good way to carry out necessary "re-education" of Donald Trump supporters if Sanders becomes president.

He also warned, in Part I, that if the Democratic Party doesn't nominate Sanders, the city hosting the convention this summer, Milwaukee, will "burn."

On Friday, a Project Veritas journalist confronted the Iowa state director for the Sanders campaign, Misty Rebik, asking whether or not Jurek and "other radicals" were still employed by the campaign.

Rebik, who was found at a coffee shop, refused to answer as she exited the shop and was followed down a street.

BREAKING: @PVeritas_Action confronts @BernieSanders Iowa State Director @mistyrebik on the employment status of "Anarcho-Communist" Sanders Iowa Field Organizer Kyle Jurek.

Misty refused to answer our questions and fled the scene.

Jurek is STILL on the campaign.

Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/u0utPUPyNJ

— James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) January 17, 2020