Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that President-elect Donald Trump won because he provided an explanation for America’s working class’ anger.
Sanders said, “Joe Biden is a friend of mine, and I have been proud to work with him. On an agenda which has been very strongly in favor of the working class. President Biden promised to be the most progressive president since FDR in many ways on domestic issues, and I think he kept his word, but here is the reality. The working class of this country is angry, and they have a reason to be angry. We are living in an economy where the people on top are doing phenomenally well while 60% of our people are living paycheck to paycheck. 25% of elderly people are trying to get by on $50,000 a year or less. We have the highest rate of childhood poverty of all the major countries on earth. And parents all over this country worry that their kids may have the lower standard of living than they do. That is the economic reality.”
He added, “What Donald Trump did is provide an explanation. He went around and said, I know you’re angry, and the reason is there are illegal immigrants coming over, and they are eating your cats and dogs and everything else. That is the reason. Obviously, that is not the reason. The reason is, in my view, we have an unprecedented level of corporate greed today and more income, wealth inequality, and people on top of it all. We need an agenda that says we will take on these powerful special interests and create an economy and government that works for you, and by the way, that cannot happen unless you get big money out of politics. We have to get rid of the Citizens United decision, so billionaires do not buy elections.”
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