Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders issued a scathing statement about the Democratic Party’s “disastrous” approach after Kamala Harris’s presidential election defeat to Donald Trump.
In a statement on Wednesday, the independent senator from Vermont criticised the party’s disconnect with working-class Americans, saying, “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 is Latino and Black workers as well. While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right,” he added.
Sanders, who secured another term in the Senate from Vermont, said, “Today, while the very rich are doing phenomenally well, 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and we have more income and wealth inequality than ever before.”
He added, “Unbelievably, real, inflation-accounted-for weekly wages for the average American worker are actually lower now than they were 50 years ago.”
As per Sanders, three main issues contributed to the public’s discontent with the Democratic party including, the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, lack of affordable healthcare, and concerns over artificial intelligence threatening jobs.
“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,” he stated.
“Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign? Will they understand the pain and political alienation that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing? Do they have any ideas as to how we can take on the increasingly powerful Oligarchy which has so much economic and political power? Probably not,” Sanders said in his statement
Concluding his statement, Sanders called for “very serious political discussions” on the future direction, ending with, “Stay tuned.”
(With inputs from agencies)