Bernie Sanders To Stephen Colbert: “We Will Not Be Denied”
UPDATED with video: The Democratic party cannot continue to be run “by the liberal elites,” Bernie Sanders told Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, after what he called a “tough week.” The return of Bernie was a big hit with Colbert’s crowd, who’d likewise been put through the wringer last week; at one point in a two-segment interview they began chanting, “Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!” [You can see the second segment below].
The Vermont senator agreed with Colbert there was a “common thread” between his Democratic bid for the White House and that of our now incoming POTUS Donald Trump.
“Above and beyond incredible bigotry of the Trump campaign, what he did is he tapped into a lot of pain and anxiety and angst the American people are feeling, which is rarely reported in the media, or understood by the punditry,” Sanders scolded.
“The fact is there are millions of people in this country whose life expectancy is lower than their parents, they are living in despair. They are turning to alcohol, drugs and suicide because they see no future for themselves. You’ve got 60-year-old workers today who are facing retirement” with zero savings, Sanders said, reiterating his campaign talk.
“At the end of the campaign, Trump was posing as a hero of the working class of America. I happen not to believe him,” Sanders said. “I hope I’m wrong, and he does follow through on some of his ideas about creating jobs sand raising wages.”
Going forward, the Democratic party has got to position itself better as a feeler of pain for the working class, Sanders said. “The vast majority of the American people are on our side,” he added, insisting Trump’s views “are a minority. People do not think we should give tax breaks to billionaires.”
“They do believe we should raise the minimum wage and have pay equity for women. They do believe we should make public colleges and universities tuition free. So our job, right now, and this is terribly important at this moment….What you do now is get heavily involved in the political process. When millions of people stand up and fight back we will not be denied.”
Here is the second segment of the Sanders interview:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyTwoBIo8kQ&w=620&h=340]
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