Senator Bernie Sanders offered a blunt reality check for the Democratic Party as it struggles to take on President Donald Trump.
‘I think there’s a lot of discontent with the Democratic leadership, and I think with the entire Democratic Party,’ the Vermont senator said in an interview with CNN.
Sanders is an Independent but caucuses with Democrats in the Senate.
But as Trump returned for a second term and Democrats ended up in the minority in both chambers of Congress, the 83-year-old progressive senator has hit the road, rallying his base across the country to fight back.
His ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ tour has attracted massive crowds across battleground and even red states.
His assessment came as Democrat infighting came to a head this week with party lawmakers splitting over the Republican spending bill and threat of a government shutdown.
Sanders was asked by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on her program whether Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer should lead the fight as he faces blistering criticism for caving to Trump.
‘I know everyone’s beating up on Chuck, and I strongly disagree with him – strongly – no one is in the caucus more critical than I am, but it’s not Schumer,’ Sanders said.
He said: ‘It’s not the caucus, it’s the Democratic Party.’
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on his ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ tour in Warren, Michigan on March 8. He said this week there’s a lot of discontent with the Democratic Party as infighting escalated as party approval is at a record low
‘You’ve got a Republican party that is owned by Musk. Any Republican who defies Donald Trump will be primaried by Musk, unlimited amounts of money,’ Sanders said.
‘In the Democratic Party, you’ve got a party that is heavily dominated by the billionaire class, run by consultants who are way out of touch with reality,’ he said.
The Vermont senator said the Democratic Party has ‘virtually no grassroots support.’
Sanders said he’s trying to ‘create a party within the party’ uniting young people, working people and people of color to demand the Democratic Party start ‘standing with the working class.’
The tour heads west this week with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joining Sanders as he heads to Nevada, Arizona and Colorado.
Sanders said their goal is to try to get people engaged in the political process as Independents or progressive Democrats.
What the senator would not weigh in on is whether Ocasio-Cortez should challenge Schumer in the Senate. He’s up for reelection in 2028.
He said the issue is not worrying about a primary three years from now, but ‘it’s not what people are worried about.’
Some protesters have been calling for Schumer to be primaried after he voted to advance the House GOP spending bill last Friday.
A massive crowd at Sanders’ tour event in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He heads west on his tour starting Thursday with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
But Sanders said they have to ‘wake up the American people.’
‘The vast majority of the American people do not believe we should give tax breaks to billionaires and cut Medicaid, cut Social Security, cut veterans’ programs and nutrition,’ Sanders said.
‘Our job is to rally the people at the grassroots level,’ he insisted.
