Sen. Bernie Sanders is blaming the Democratic Party after Vice President Kamala Harris lost to now President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans gained control of the Senate.
In a statement shared on social media Wednesday — see below — the U.S. senator from Vermont said party leadership must have “serious political discussions” about Latino and Black workers voting for Republican candidates.
“It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them,” Sanders wrote. “While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right.”
Sanders, 83, highlighted several issues he believes the nation has failed to address under the Biden-Harris Administration, from wealth inequality and a worsening standard of living to high prescription drug prices and the lack of guaranteed medical leave.
“Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign? Will they understand the pain and political alienation that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing? Do they have any ideas as to how we can take on the increasingly powerful Oligarchy which has so much economic and political power? Probably not,” Sanders wrote.
Sanders, who just won reelection to another Senate term in Vermont, didn’t sound optimistic the party brass would heed his calls though. “Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign?” Sanders asked.
“Will they understand the pain and political alienation that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing? Do they have any ideas as to how we can take on the increasingly powerful Oligarchy which has so much economic and political power? Probably not.”
Sanders ended his statement with “Stay tuned,” a sign of future action as Democrats seek a path forward after losing the Senate majority and struggling to grasp control of the House. The progressive lost Democratic presidential primaries in both 2016 and 2020.
Here’s part of the Sanders’ statement:
This! Here’s his full statement:
It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them. First, it was the white working class, and now it is the Latino and Black workers as well.
While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right.
Today, while the very rich are doing phenomenally well, 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and we have more income and wealth inequality than ever before. Unbelievably, real, inflation-accounted-for weekly wages for the average American worker are actually lower now than they were 50 years ago.
Today, despite an explosion in technology and worker productivity, many young people will have a worse standard of living than their parents. And many of them worry that Artificial Intelligence and robotics will make a bad situation even worse.
Today, despite spending far more per capita than other countries, we remain the only wealthy nation not to guarantee health care to all as a human right and we pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. We, alone among major countries, cannot even guarantee paid family and medical leave.
Today, despite strong opposition from a majority of Americans, we continue to spend billions funding the extremist Netanyahu government’s all out war against the Palestinian people which has led to the horrific humanitarian disaster of mass malnutrition and the starvation of thousands of children.
Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from his disaster campaign? Will they understand the pain and political alienation that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing? Do they have any ideas as to how we can take on the increasingly powerful Oligarchy which has so much economic and political power? Probably not.
In the coming weeks and months those of concerned about grassroots democracy and economic justice need to have some very serious political discussions.
Stay tuned.
yes. In the ‘good old days’ the Republican backers were 70% Big Corp, and today Democrats are backed by elites and Big Everything, Pharma, Agri, Tech, Media etc. 70% of their funding comes from BIG. As many dems say, I didn’t leave the part, it left me. Bernie gets it, at least that part of it.
IMHO the ‘resist” movement which began before Trump’s 1st inauguration was the beginning of movement away from liberal democratic leadership. If Dems don’t listen to the people who voted for Trump, and adjust accordingly, they will be out of power for a long time. This was a landslide for reasons, and Dems need to analyze the reasons, not revisit and regurgitate the narrative and bias that are entrenched in the party line. If ‘we’ really are warriors of truth, we have to begin with self-discovery. Change begins with introspection and growth. Blaming others is a recipe for defeat.
Well said, Lynne. For too long, the Dem party leadership has turned its backs on the New Deal and progressive ideals that drew people to it. Marketing itself as “Republican Lite” has now been thoroughly discredited.
The Democratic Party purposefully sank Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as a candidate in 2016 with DNC secret manipulation of campaign funds in favor of Hillary Clinton, and again in 2020 when weak candidate Joe Biden rose from the dead to become the Party’s nominee for President, thanks to a powerful old friend, U.S. Rep Jim Clyburn.
Bernie is a seer, a truth-teller and a National Socialist who caucuses with Democrats and is responsible for whatever progressive legislation came from President Biden’s four years. But it was not enough to counteract broad voter worry over higher prices for everything, a shambles immigration system and our limitless spending on foreign proxy-wars that may imperil the fragile global status quo masquerading as world peace.
Bernie Sanders has my admiration, respect and gratitude for intelligence,
integrity and persistence. He continues to speak, and we should listen.
Less than 51% is hardly a “mandate.” 144.6 million people voted and 73.3 million voted for Trump (47.7% for Harris) which is 50.7%. Not even 51%. So, remember this when the MAGAistas claim they have a mandate.