Sen. Sanders to Democratic colleagues: We 'have to do MORE' to take Trump on

[0:00] Democrats right now are desperately trying to win control of the House and perhaps the Senate. [0:05] They're locked in several consequential races, some races that people didn't think were going to be competitive, [0:11] and it turns out that they are. [0:12] And in some cases, to the surprise and perhaps the anxiety of some establishment Democrats. [0:20] If they're able to pull this off, and if the Democrats are able to win control of one or both houses, [0:25] what do you want to do with that power? [0:26] I think at this particular moment in history, when people are so frustrated with the direction in which this country is going, [0:39] and it's not just Trump, who, to my mind, is the most dangerous president in the history of the country. [0:44] It goes beyond that. [0:46] It goes to the fact that people are looking around them. [0:51] They're working hard. [0:52] They're going nowhere in a hurry. [0:55] They get sick. [0:56] They can't afford to go to the doctor. [0:57] They can't afford housing in many cases. [1:01] We want young people to have babies, have good families, cost a fortune to have a baby. [1:07] Child care is terribly expensive. [1:09] The cost of college is kind of off the charts. [1:12] People are worried about climate change. [1:14] They're worried about AI. [1:15] They're worried about all of these things. [1:16] They look at the Democrats. [1:17] They say, yeah. [1:18] Look at the Republicans. [1:19] They say, yeah. [1:19] They look at Trump. [1:20] They say, people are giving up in many ways. [1:23] So what do you do, then, if you actually take power? [1:26] I will tell you what we do. [1:27] If the Democratic Party takes power. [1:28] I will tell you. [1:29] The time for old-fashioned status quo policies and status quo politics has got to end. [1:38] People are in trouble. [1:40] They want bold action. [1:42] Some examples. [1:43] You tell me. [1:44] I know I'm being interviewed here. [1:46] But why are we the only major country on Earth not to guarantee health care to all people? [1:51] Canada does it. [1:52] Europe does it. [1:53] The world in Australia, New Zealand. [1:55] Every bloody country on Earth can do it. [1:57] And we spend twice as much per capita on health care as other countries. [2:01] We've got $85 million uninsured. [2:03] You know what we do? [2:03] We pass Medicare for all single-payer. [2:06] We guarantee health care to every man, woman, and child. [2:08] You know what else we do? [2:11] At a time when we have more income and wealth inequality in America today than at any time in the history of this country. [2:18] Remember the Gilded Age? [2:19] Much worse today. [2:21] You know what you say to the billionaire class and all of their greed? [2:25] They're getting richer and richer. [2:27] In some cases, these billionaires pay an effective tax rate lower than a nurse or a truck driver. [2:33] You're going to start paying your fair share of taxes so we can provide for the needs of working families. [2:39] At a time when families can't afford to send their kids to college. [2:42] You know what we say? [2:43] Radical idea. [2:44] We go back to where we were 50 or 60 years ago. [2:47] We make public colleges and universities tuition-free. [2:50] You think that's radical? [2:51] It ain't radical. [2:52] It's exactly... [2:53] It used to be right here in California. [2:54] City College in New York City. [2:56] State College is in Vermont. [2:58] So what the hell is going on with all of the so-called progress? [3:01] The question that people are asking is, got all this new technology, all this AI and computers and space age stuff. [3:08] Why is it that 60% of our people are living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to pay for the basic necessities of life? [3:16] That is the issue that Democrats have got to tackle now. [3:19] But you said something interesting. [3:20] You said people look at the Democrats and they're not so sure that they like what they see. [3:23] And they look at the Republicans and right now polls show that they're not happy there either. [3:26] So why should they believe that you and the candidates, large number of candidates that you've endorsed, can actually push that ball forward? [3:33] That's what we've got to do. [3:34] So let me be clear. [3:35] I think it is absolutely imperative that in the next month we do everything we can to elect Democrats to the House and Senate so that we can... [3:44] And take control of both bodies so that we can finally put a check on the most dangerous president in the history of the United States. [3:51] That's issue number one. [3:53] All right. [3:53] But that's not good enough. [3:55] Some of my colleagues... [3:56] I'm an independent, you know, caucusing with the Democrats. [3:58] But you're caucused with the Democrats. [3:59] Right. [3:59] And some of my Democratic colleagues, they go around and they say, Trump is terrible. [4:03] Trump is awful. [4:04] And they do it in all kinds of creative and intelligent ways. [4:06] They're right. [4:07] It ain't good enough. [4:08] We've got to take Trump on, but we have to do more. [4:12] You have to implement... [4:13] You have to do more. [4:14] What's more? [4:14] Implement an agenda that works for the working class of this country. [4:18] So it's interesting. [4:19] You are an independent. [4:21] You have never officially joined the Democratic Party, but you have had tremendous influence over the party. [4:26] And some would say you have been responsible for pulling the party farther to the left. [4:34] And when I mention the surprise and anxiety among some establishment Democrats, I just want to lean into the anxiety a little bit. [4:41] Indigestion, some might call it. [4:43] And part of this is that the worry that with some of these candidates that have had great success in the primaries, that it might make it harder for the party as a whole to reach out to centrist voters, to moderate voters, to win back those voters who at one time may have voted for Democrats, but have drifted into Donald Trump's camp. [5:04] I strongly disagree with that. [5:06] You disagree. [5:06] Tell me why. [5:07] Yes, I do. [5:10] Do you understand their worries, first of all? [5:12] I understand everything. [5:13] And usually these guys are, you know, some of the... [5:15] You know, when you talk about the Democratic Party, understand what we're talking about. [5:19] Often, we're talking about billionaire or very wealthy campaign contributors, and they have their views. [5:26] I respect their views. [5:27] I disagree with their views. [5:29] My view is that millions and millions of Americans, working class Americans, voted for Donald Trump, not because they think that we should give a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the 1% or throw 15 million people off of Medicaid. [5:44] That's not what they voted for. [5:45] What they did is, for years, they heard the Democrats say, oh, we're going to do this, we're going to do that, and we're going to help you. [5:51] And they didn't. [5:52] And it's true. [5:53] Democrats pushed through terrible trade deals, which cost us millions of good-paying manufacturing jobs, et cetera, et cetera. [5:59] They lost faith in the Democratic Party, and not unjustifiably. [6:04] All right? [6:05] My belief is that if you are prepared to fight for working families in any state in this country, people will come over and support you. [6:16] That's my view. [6:18] And what we have seen in this particular campaign cycle, starting off with Mamdani in New York City, he took on the whole oligarchs, took on the Democratic establishment, the Republican establishment, President of the United States. [6:29] But you know what he did? [6:30] He had 100,000 people knocking on doors, and he won that election. [6:33] You get 100,000 people knocking on doors, you ain't going to lose. [6:36] And that's true all over this country. [6:38] Our people. [6:38] So you say that's the antidote to campaign finance is to actually hit the streets? [6:42] Well, you've got to deal with campaign finance. [6:43] Of course you do. [6:44] You've got to get rid of this corrupt system. [6:46] But right now, at this moment, the way to beat big money is not just another TV ad. [6:52] It is putting people out on the streets. [6:54] Go to the ground. [6:55] Go to the ground. [6:56] An observation. [6:57] When I mentioned the anxiety that this may be causing Democrats, you smiled. [7:01] You seem to. [7:02] Do you enjoy this role? [7:04] One question of enjoying it. [7:05] I believe what we're doing is absolutely right. [7:07] They have an idea. [7:08] This is the old establishment Democratic Party. [7:11] We've got a whole lot of money. [7:13] We're going to have some fun. [7:14] You want to run. [7:15] We think you'd be a good candidate to run for U.S. Senate for Aragon. [7:19] What do you think? [7:20] And we've got $20 million to put behind you. [7:22] We're going to raise all kinds of. [7:23] And we have really good consultants. [7:25] They have really good TV ads. [7:27] We've got opposition research. [7:29] Show the world how terrible your opponent is. [7:31] That's how we do politics. [7:32] That's how they do politics. [7:33] That's how they do politics. [7:34] So how do you do it? [7:36] Because you're. [7:37] All right. [7:37] We don't sit around selecting who the candidate is. [7:40] What has been very interesting in this particular cycle, you've had, I don't know, I would say, [7:46] but the significant majority of the candidates that I've never run for office before. [7:51] Some of them have been active community organizers. [7:54] They've been trade unionists. [7:55] They've simply been young people who came out of nowhere who were disgusted about U.S. [7:59] foreign policy regarding Israel or whatever. [8:02] And they ran for office and they found all kinds of other young people around them saying, [8:06] hey, you're right. [8:07] Let's get involved. [8:08] Took on the establishment and they won. [8:10] So the difference is the establishment is top down politics. [8:14] We've got the money. [8:15] We'll select the candidates. [8:16] We'll call the consultants. [8:18] We'll do TV ads. [8:19] Ours is bottom on up politics. [8:21] Grass for politics. [8:23] Knock on doors. [8:24] That's how we win elections. [8:25] Hey, it's Rachel. [8:26] I am so glad to see you at the end of that clip because this is where I get to tell you [8:29] about a new way to watch all our clips and all of our shows and everything on MSNOW on your phone [8:36] or your tablet or your laptop. [8:38] You can watch things live or recorded. [8:40] Plus, you can ask me and all the other hosts and reporters questions in our weekly live chats. [8:46] You can go to ms.now slash membership or just click below. [8:52] Thanks.