Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders made a blistering statement condemning the Democratic Party’s “disastrous” campaign after Vice President Kamala Harris lost the presidential election to former President Donald Trump.
The independent, who caucuses with Democrats, stated that it “should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them.”
“First, it was the white working class, and now it’s Latino and black workers,” Sanders said. “While the Democratic leadership defends the existing quo, the American public is outraged and demands change. And they’re correct.
The lifelong progressive fighter, who ran for president in 2016 and 2020, focused on how Americans continue to face economic insecurity, including income and wealth disparity and a lack of guaranteed paid family and medical leave.
Sanders also condemned the continuous expenditure on military aid to Israel.
“Today, despite strong opposition from a majority of Americans, we continue to spend billions funding the extremist Netanyahu government’s all out war against the Palestinian people which has led to the horrific humanitarian disaster of mass malnutrition and the starvation of thousands of children,” Sanders informed the crowd.
Sanders, who won reelection to a fourth six-year term in the United States Senate on Tuesday, questioned the party’s ability to learn from its mistakes.
“Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who run the Democratic Party learn anything from this terrible campaign? Will they grasp the anguish and political alienation that tens of millions of Americans are feeling? Do they have any suggestions about how we might combat the growing dominant Oligarchy, which wields so much economic and political power? “Probably not,” Sanders replied.
Sanders stated that “very serious political discussions” are now necessary regarding the route forward for “those of us concerned about grassroots democracy and economic justice,” before concluding, “Stay tuned.”
Harris conceded the race during a speech on Wednesday at her alma school, Howard University, in Washington, D.C.
“While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign,” she told reporters. “The fight for freedom, for opportunity, for fairness and the dignity of all people — a fight for the ideals at the heart of our nation — the ideals that reflect America at our best.”
Harris’ concession speech occurred after Trump was expected to win the swing states of Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.