After a string of progressive wins Tuesday and in other recent elections, I sat down with Senator Bernie Sanders earlier today to ask what he thinks of this moment in American politics.
Bernie, like me, doesn’t buy into this whole left/center/right framing that so many like to use. Labels miss the point. As Bernie told me, voters are demanding candidates who will actually fight for them.
Regarding the victory of Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Sanders called the results part of a “massive transformation of politics in America.”
He brought up some other wins from yesterday as well. Donavan McKinney’s upset congressional victory in Michigan’s 13th, Will Lawrence’s win in Lansing, and a growing list of progressive candidates defeating candidates backed by the establishment.
Sanders spoke about some of the things these candidates have been up against. In El-Sayed’s case, for example, Sanders pointed to a whopping $70 million in outside spending, much of it from AIPAC and its affiliates.
Sanders told me that winning against that kind of spending is “quite extraordinary,” adding, “I have never heard of a candidate winning against that kind of opposition.”
So I asked Bernie… How are they doing it? How are they overcoming this massive spending gap? Sanders pointed to something both he and I observed while watching his Fight the Oligarchy Tour with AOC, which has traveled around the country over the past couple of years: “They listened.”
Sanders said that El-Sayed’s campaign held around 500 public meetings and prioritized direct engagement with voters over TV ads and consultant-crafted messaging. So while the media was focusing on the labels, people were looking for someone who they felt would fight for them. That’s why Sanders says issues like Medicare for All, affordable housing, higher wages, campaign finance reform, taxing billionaires, and so on, continue to resonate despite the media trying to brand candidate’s who espouse these policies as “radical.”
As the topic moved to Trump, Sanders plainly stated that the president is an authoritarian who does not believe in the Constitution or the rule of law.” A corrupt president who has enriched himself while giving massive tax breaks to the wealthy and stripping millions of Americans of healthcare.
But Sanders also offered a piece of advice: simply being anti-Trump is not enough.
Working Americans are demanding that politicians put in the work to make their lives better. When they’re struggling to afford housing, healthcare, groceries, childcare—you name it—people want to vote for individuals who are offering solutions to actually improve their lives.
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The convo then shifted to a topic that Bernie has been very focused on: artificial intelligence.
While the Trump regime has aggressively promoted massive AI infrastructure and data center projects, urging people to allow data centers essentially in their backyards, Sanders noted how communities across the country are increasingly pushing back. And it’s not only environment concerns, Sanders notes. The questions people have go way deeper than that.
Sanders explained how billionaires like Musk, Zuckberg, Bezos, and son on are racing towards automation not because they’re worried about working families. Rather, they see ANOTHER opportunity to accumulate EVEN MORE wealth and power. All the while, regular Americans are wondering if AI will eliminate their jobs, erode their pricacy, and leave workers without meaningful protections.
There was a clear through-line throughout our conversation, no matter the topic. And that’s that people increasingly believe the system is rigged to benefit the wealthy. That realization is fueling the shift we are seeing politically across the country.
Sanders highlighted progressive victories not only from last night, but also wins in Arizona, New York., New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Montana, Colorado, and more. Sanders said it represents a “political revolution taking place right now.” He noted, “They got the money… but we have the people.”
Whether you agree with all of Bernie’s politics or not, it’s hard to deny his analysis here.
I hope you enjoy my interview with Bernie Sanders above, and remember to leave a comment to let me know your thoughts.
