Bernie Sanders To Iowans: Campaign About People, Not Donald Trump

Bernie Sanders was in Iowa on Saturday, making multiple stops in the state in his campaign to win over potential voters. During his speeches, Sanders appeared to be taking advantage of Trump’s controversial opinions against minorities and using them to his advantage.

“I know this is a very radical idea but maybe the campaign should be about the American people and not Donald Trump.”

In discussing the minimum wage, Bernie Sanders hit back at Trump for asserting that a low minimum wage is necessary to make the country internationally competitive. He told MSNBC‘s Morning Joe in August that a low minimum wage is “not a bad thing.”

Sanders vehemently disagreed.

“Well, it may not be a bad thing if you’re a billionaire. But it’s sure as hell not a good thing if you’re a working person trying to survive.”

At a town hall meeting in Anamosa, The Des Moines Register reports that Bernie answered questions from a variety of people, but mainly served as a moderator for a panel discussion about prison reform. One of those panelists is former Ohio state legislator Nina Turner, who recently turned away from Hillary Clinton to throw her full support behind Bernie Sanders.

“What this campaign is about is not sound bites. It is attempting to address some of the most important issues facing our country. It is an attempt to force discussion on issues that are often swept under the rug.”

With all the media attention going toward Donald Trump and almost none to Sanders, calling out Trump for his ridiculous statements may be Bernie’s say of forcing the media to pay attention. He’s also asking followers to sign a petition to get Big Media to finally give him airtime. In a revelation that does not surprise Bernie Sanders supporters, the Tyndall Report found that ABC News devoted a mere 20 seconds of coverage to the Sanders campaign but 81 minutes to Donald Trump’s.

Bernie Sanders isn’t the only person calling out Trump. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s granddaughter, called The Donald’s suggestion that Muslims should be banned from entering the country because FDR did it, “reprehensible.”

“For Donald Trump to cite my grandfather and internment as a defense of his own intolerant divisive agenda is reprehensible. The internment of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II is a sad part of our history and, as a part of my grandfather’s administration, a terrible political decision driven by fear.”

Roosevelt is the Board Chair of the Roosevelt Institute, an organization dedicated to social justice and economic equality. Her statement also notes that her grandmother, Eleanor Roosevelt, spoke out publicly against internment, and felt that any kind of discrimination against a group of people based on race, religion, or ethnicity was wrong.

Full house for @BernieSanders at Clinton Middle School in Clinton, Iowa. #IACaucus pic.twitter.com/WqeXPAQeeC

— Danny Freeman (@DannyEFreeman) December 12, 2015

Bernie Sanders has refrained from directly attacking his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, however he has alluded to her on more than one occasion. In a recent ad he was blunt.

“The truth is you can’t change a corrupt system by taking its money.”

For those following the primary campaign, this was a reference to Hillary’s willingness to take money from Wall Street while weakly claiming she’d get it under control. Her promise to reign in Wall Street seems shallow, given how much money financial institutions and their leaders have donated to her campaign

A July, 2015, report by The Atlantic notes how beholden Clinton is to her financiers. After helping Swiss bank UBS reach a legal settlement with the United States concerning wealthy U.S. citizens hiding money in Swiss bank accounts, the institution donated millions of dollars to the Clintons and their various foundations in addition to paying former president Bill Clinton a $1.5 million fee for participating in a series of events with UBS Wealth Management Chief Executive Bob McCann.

The implications of Bill Clinton’s substantial speaking fees after his wife (in her capacity as Secretary of State) helped UBS avoid criminal charges on U.S. are striking.

Atlantic reporter Conor Friedersdorf was particularly astounded at the nonchalance of Clintons’ actions.

“This is particularly jaw-dropping because ultra-wealthy Bill Clinton has virtually unlimited opportunities to give lucrative speeches to any number of audiences not directly implicated by decisions that his wife made as secretary of state.”

And this kind of behavior is what Bernie Sanders is critical of. He has made it clear time and time again that he will not take money from big business. He does not believe in discriminating against people based on their religion, creed, race, sexual orientation, or economic background.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton may be ahead in the polls right now, but Bernie Sanders is forcing a shift in the discussion. Whether corporate media will listen to his supporters and start giving him the coverage he deserves remains to be seen.

[Photo: Darren McCollester/Getty]