Sen. Bernie Sanders is standing ten toes down on his assessment that the Democratic Party lost the presidential election because the working class feels abandoned.
The Vermont senator, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, released a statement after the election stating, “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.” On Sunday he continued his criticism of the party.
“Here is the reality, the working class of this country is angry, and they have reason to be angry,” Sanders said on Meet the Press. “We are living in an economy today where people on top are doing phenomenally well while 60 percent of our people are living paycheck to paycheck.”
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi reacted to Sanders' original post-election statement by saying she doesn't “respect him saying that the Democratic Party has abandoned the working-class families.” In an interview with The New York Timesshe blamed the loss on Biden exiting the race late and the lack of an open primary to select his replacement.
Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison also dismissed Sanders' argument. “This is straight up BS. … There are a lot of post-election takes and this one ain't a good one,” he wrote on.
When moderator Kristen Welker asked for Sanders' response to Pelosi, he said, “Here is reality I have to say to Nancy. In the Senate, in the last few years, we have not even brought forth legislation to raise the minimum wage to a living wage, despite the fact that some 20 million people in this country are working for less than $15 an hour. In America today, we have not brought — in the Senate, we have not brought to the floor the PRO Act to make it easier for workers to join unions. We're not talking about defined benefit pension plans so that our elderly can retire with security. We're not talking about lifting the cap on Social Security so that we can extend the solvency of Social Security and raise benefits.”
The senator concluded, “Bottom line, if you're an average working person out there, do you really think that the Democratic Party is going to the mat, taking on powerful special interests and fighting for you? I think the overwhelming answer is no, and that is what has got to change.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made a similar argument in a live video on Instagram the day after the election. “At the end of the day, the ultimate problem is our ability to clearly and forthrightly advocate for an agenda that clearly champions the working class,” she said.
It's true that Trump enjoyed more support from working class voters this election cycle. According to an Edison Research exit poll, Trump won 66 percent of working-class white voters, and he saw a 14-point increase in support from self-identified Hispanic voters — many of whom are in the working class.
Sanders applauded President Joe Biden for advancing a progressive domestic agenda, but added, “That agenda has got to be placed within the overall context of American society today. And that American society today is one in which tens of millions of working families and elderly people are struggling, while the people on top have never had it so good.”
The senator also appeared on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday where he called out the Democrats for capitulating to the rich this election cycle.
“In this campaign, in the Republican Party, Democratic Party, billionaires exerted their power. Most Americans know that's wrong,” he said.
