Stephen Colbert offers Bernie Sanders advice on how to win South Carolina
A day after his 22-point victory over Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary, Bernie Sanders took a victory lap in New York City, which included a soul food summit with the Rev. Al Sharpton, a sit-down with the ladies of “The View” and an appearance on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” And Colbert, who grew up in Charleston, S.C., offered the Vermont senator some advice on how to win the upcoming primary in South Carolina.
“To get the vote down there, you have to eat boiled peanuts,” Colbert said, offering the democratic socialist a delicacy from the Palmetto State. “And you have that with a nice beer — do you want a beer?”
Sanders didn’t hesitate, taking a swig from a bottle given to him by the late-night host.
“And this wins in South Carolina?” Sanders asked.
“Yes, it does,” Colbert said. “If you like boiled peanuts, it’ll certainly give you a leg up in South Carolina.”
Colbert then asked Sanders about an old photo that recently resurfaced online showing the Vermont senator on a packed commercial flight seated between two passengers in economy class.
“Is that penance for something?” Colbert asked. “Why travel in the middle seat, sir?”
“Because we couldn’t get the aisle or the damn window,” Sanders replied.
Earlier in the interview, Colbert challenged Sanders on his campaign’s crusade against the billionaire class.
“That sounds like class warfare,” the CBS host said. “If you’re saying that everything — most of it is going to the top one percent, and [younger voters] want fairness, how do you achieve that fairness? Because the top one percent has a lot of influence in government, and they’re not just going to give it up. They’re going to fight you tooth and nail, and I’ll tell you how I know — I’m in the top 1 percent.”
“I think we’ve reached a point in American society where people are just very, very unhappy with the status quo,” Sanders said.
Sanders was also to explain why some New Hampshire voters said they were trying to decide between the Democratic candidate and Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.
“I think a lot of Donald Trump’s supporters are angry,” the Vermont senator said. “They are in many cases people working longer hours for lower wages. They’re people who are really worried about what is going to happen to their kids. But I think what they have done is respond to Trump’s false message that suggests that if we keep Muslims out of this country or if we keep scapegoating Latinos or Mexicans that somehow our country becomes better.”
Sanders added: “People have a right to be angry, but what we need to be is rational in figuring out how we address the problems and not be scapegoating minorities.”
Watch Bernie’s beer summit with Colbert below:
