Bernie Sanders Blames Kamala Harris’ Billionaire Problem for Election Defeat
The Vermont senator said that the former vice president’s campaign was “very influenced by wealthy people.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders offered a brutal assessment of why former Vice President Kamala Harris lost to President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
On CNN’s State of the Union Sunday, host Dana Bash played a clip of Sanders’ remarks during a stop in Wheeling, Wyoming, for the Vermont senator’s “Fighting Oligarchy” tour.
“One of the reasons, in my view, that Kamala Harris lost this election is she had too many billionaires telling her not to stand up for the working class of this country,” he told the crowd Wednesday.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders called former Vice President Kamala a "friend" but said her campaign failed to appeal to working-class voters.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
“Ouch,” Bash said.
Sanders then doubled down on his remarks in Wyoming.
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“I like Kamala, she’s a friend of mine,” Sanders said on CNN Sunday. “But her core consultants, you know, were very influenced by wealthy people.”
Sanders claimed that Harris’ campaign had been “vague” in offering proposals for the plight of working families.
“How do you run for president and not develop a strong agenda which speaks to the economic crises facing working families?” he said.
Sanders said Harris' consultants were "very influenced by wealthy people."
Evelyn Hockstein/REUTERS
“We have more income and wealth inequality today than we’ve ever had. We’ve got 60 per cent of our people living paycheck to paycheck. You’ve got a healthcare system which is broken and dysfunctional, and despite spending so much, we’re the only major country not to guarantee healthcare to all people,” he added. “How do you not talk about these issues?”
Sanders said Democrats must speak to working people in order to win elections.
“I think the clue to democratic victories is to understand that you’ve got to stand unequivocally with the working class of this country. You need an agenda that speaks to the needs of working people,” he said.
Denouncing the “power of the oligarchs economically and politically,” Sanders said, “Let’s be clear, in my opinion, the current political system in the United States of America is broken and corrupt.”
Sanders also had choice words for former Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk, who helped bankroll Trump’s campaign and poured money into Wisconsin to try to sway a judicial race in April.
“Billionaires should not be able to buy elections,” he said.
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