DES MOINES, Iowa — Education, particularly free college, is a key pillar of Bernie Sanders’s resurgent second White House bid.

But as a private citizen four decades ago, the Vermont senator, an independent who rejoined the Democratic Party in order to seek its 2020 presidential nomination, decried schools as “mind-destroying” institutions shortly after leaving his home state’s main socialist political party at the time.

Recommended Stories

Four years later, Trump heals rift between establishment Democrats and Sanders base

ANALYSIS: Establishment panic over Sanders could aid his 2020 prospects

Warren: Bernie Sanders wants to change delegate rules he wrote