Schumer has drawn the ire of Democrats and liberal media personalities over voting with the GOP to avert a shutdown
Bernie Sanders says Democratic Party has 'no grassroots support'
Sen. Bernie Sanders lamented on Tuesday that the Democratic Party's problems were bigger than Sen. Chuck Schumer and said that they had virtually "no grassroots support."
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., shifted some criticism away from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday, arguing that the entire Democratic Party had a problem when it came to countering President Donald Trump.
"I know everyone’s beating up on Chuck, and I strongly disagree with him. Strongly. No one is in the caucus more critical of Schumer than I am. But it’s not Schumer, it’s the caucus. It’s not the caucus, it's the Democratic Party," Sanders told CNN's Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday. "You've got to take a deep breath."
Schumer has been under fire since he sided with Republicans in supporting a spending bill on Friday to avoid a government shutdown. He has defended his decision and acknowledged the backlash.
BERNIE SANDERS SEETHES US HAS BECOME ‘OLIGARCHIC SOCIETY’ FOLLOWING TRUMP SPEECH
Sen. Bernie Sanders says whole Democratic Party has a problem during a CNN interview. (Screenshot/CNN)
Sanders continued, "In the Democratic Party, you’ve got a party that is heavily dominated by the billionaire class, run by consultants who are way out of touch with reality. The Democratic Party has virtually no grassroots support."
"So, what we are trying to do is, in one way or another, maybe create a party within the party, of bringing millions of young people, working-class people, people of color, to demand that the Democratic Party start standing with the working-class of this country, and take on the very powerful corporate interests that have never had it so good," the senator added.
Collins asked Sanders if Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., would be a formidable primary opponent to Schumer in 2028.
"Look, the issue right now is not worrying about a primary three years from now, whenever it is going to be. That’s media stuff, Kaitlan. That’s not what people are worried about. What we have got to do now is wake up," Sanders responded.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., left, is joined by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., for a news conference in Statuary Hall at the Capitol, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Sanders called on the party to rally people at the grassroots level.
"The vast majority of the American people do not believe that we should give tax breaks to billionaires and cut Medicaid, cut Social Security, cut veterans’ programs and nutrition. And our job is to rally the people, at the grassroots level, have them run for school board, or Congress, or the Senate, on an agenda that says that we’re going to stand up for working-class people, not the rich. That’s what we've got to do in this moment," Sanders said.
Sanders has been critical of the Democratic Party following Trump's win and has argued the party completely abandoned working-class Americans.
"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," he said following Trump's victory.
Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.
