Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) accused the Democratic Party of rigging elections and closing the door to a fair primary process, agreeing with assessments that it has become “a threat to democracy.”
The staunchly progressive Sanders typically caucuses with Democrats and ran as one during two presidential bids in 2016 and 2020. In both campaigns, he lost the party’s primary nomination despite enjoying popular support, fueling criticism that hostile Democratic leaders blocked his path to victory because he posed a threat to entrenched establishment interests.
During the latest episode of comedians Andrew Schulz and Akaash Singh’s Flagrant podcast, Sanders accused Democrats of crafting a system riddled with corruption that is controlled by wealthy, out-of-touch establishment interests.
“Could we not also say, ostensibly, there hasn’t been a fair primary for the Democrats since 2008?” Singh asked Sanders. “Are they not also a threat to democracy?”
“I’m not going to argue with that point,” the Vermont senator replied. “I will just reinforce the point both of you made — the hatred that we felt in 2016 and 2020 from the Democratic establishment … give you an example: We would do rallies and have thousands of people, often young people of color, working-class people, coming out. They were great, full of energy.”
“And then we’d go to Democratic Party events, and there’d be a few hundred people — mostly older, whiter, wealthier,” Sanders continued. “Then you saw the clash. The establishment did not want to open the door. They hated the idea that all these people whose hands were a little bit dirty, who didn’t have PhDs, who weren’t wealthy — imagine them walking in: ‘It’s my party, man. You ain’t getting in. Yes, we will fight you in the most ruthless ways that we can.’”
The Vermont lawmaker also agreed with Schulz, who said Democrats felt “that we didn’t have a say on who could be president” and that the Democratic Party “completely removed the democratic process from its constituents.”
“Over the last four elections, Democrats — we felt like we didn’t have a say in who could be president,” Schultz told Sanders. “We talk a lot about the Republicans being autocrats and oligarchs and taking over democracy, but from the Democratic perspective — and I’m a lifelong Democrat — I felt like the Democratic Party completely removed the democratic process from its constituents. And I think they need to have some accountability for that.”
“No argument here,” Sanders replied as he continued to suggest that President Donald Trump was able to capture the working-class vote and secure reelection last year because he capitalized on voters’ concerns that the system was “broken” and controlled by elites.
“You’ve got a Democratic establishment, now, which is funded by wealthy people,” Sanders told Schultz and Singh. “You have consultants who are really way out of touch with reality, who make a whole lot of money in campaigns. And the working class is ignored.”
“Essentially, Democrats say, ‘The status quo is working OK, we’re going to tinker around the edges, make a little change here,’” Sanders argued. “Trump says the whole entire system is broken and ‘I will fix it.’ Well, his solutions will make it worse, but he at least acknowledged that the system is broken. Democrats often don’t.”
The Vermont lawmaker concluded that the Democratic Party remains locked in a “struggle.”
“Are they going to open the door, or are they prepared to lose elections, literally, and maintain the status quo, go down with the Titanic?” he said.
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Sanders also revealed that he pressured former Vice President Kamala Harris to switch up her strategy on the campaign trail against Trump last year. He said her consultants refused his advice before she subsequently lost her bid for the White House.
“I know Kamala. She’s a friend. She’s very smart. That’s what her bloody consultants told her to say. I begged them,” Sanders said after Schultz commented that Harris seemed to run on the idea that times had been good under former President Joe Biden and “we’re going to keep doing the exact same thing, which is a losing strategy.”
