Bernie Sanders: Donald Trump Won Because The Democratic Party Abandoned Working-Class Americans

Following the general election victory of the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump over the Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has slammed the Democratic Party, saying that the party lost because it abandoned working- and middle-class Americans.

Speaking in an interview with the Associated Press, Sanders said it is an embarrassment that the Democratic Party and its presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, failed to connect with working-class Americans and that millions of historically Democratic Party-voting white working-class Americans chose to vote for Trump at the last general election.

He said that it shows that despite portraying itself as the party that champions the interests of working people, the Democratic Party failed to convince the people of its sincerity and thus lost its standing among the country’s working class.

“It is an embarrassment, I think, to the […] Democratic Party that millions of white working-class people decided to vote for Mr. Trump,” Sanders told the AP. “[This] suggests that the Democratic message of standing up for working people no longer holds much sway among workers in this country.”

“You cannot be a party which on one hand says we’re in favor of working people, we’re in favor of the needs of young people but we don’t quite have the courage to take on Wall Street and the billionaire class,” he continued. “People do not believe that. You’ve got to decide which side you’re on.”

Sanders also blamed the loss on a “lack of enthusiasm” to vote amongst Democrats.

“People just did not come out to vote,” he told the AP.

Sanders, a 75-year-old independent senator from Vermont who identifies as a democratic socialist, had challenged the Democratic Party nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, during the primaries. He won 22 states and 47 percent of votes, relying solely on the message that the political and economic system was rigged in favor of the wealthy.

Bernie Sanders tells @KThomasDC he's not ruling out a 2020 White House run. https://t.co/Dh5jBKRu0a pic.twitter.com/tREPz1QjJ4

— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) November 10, 2016

Agreeing with Sander’s analysis of the cause of the Democratic Party’s general election loss, pundits, including the economist Robert Reich writing for the Guardian, argued that Democratic Party leaders, including former President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama, were to blame for the loss of the traditionally Democratic Rust Belt working class in the last general election.

According to Reich, the Democratic Party failed the working class by embracing a shift of “power away from the people towards corporations,” thus “providing an opening for Donald Trump.”

The Democratic Party has to be focused on grassroots America and not wealthy people attending cocktail parties.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) November 10, 2016

Analysts are unanimous that people rejected Clinton’s candidacy because they saw it as a partnership between the establishment and wealthy corporations. The perception that Clinton’s political orientation overlooks the interests of the working class explains why she lost the Rust Belt states after Obama won them easily in 2008 and 2012.

The vote for Trump, according to analysts, was an expression of the people’s repudiation of the American power structure, consisting of the political leaders of the major parties, their operatives, Wall Street, corporations, and the mainstream media.

Commenting further in the interview with the AP, Sanders said he was willing to cooperate with Trump only to the extent that “[he] is serious about pursuing policies that improve the lives of working families in this country.”

But he immediately expressed doubt that Trump would be able to fulfill his promises to the working class.

“I hope I’m wrong, but I believe that he is a fraud,” he said, “and I think despite all of his rhetoric about being a champion of the working class, it will turn out to be hollow.”

Following the Democratic Party’s general election loss, many supporters of Sanders are insisting the party ensured failure by scheming Sanders out of the primary race. Pointing out that polling had shown Sanders performing consistently better than Clinton against Trump, Sanders’ supporters argue that their candidate would have performed better than Clinton at the general election.

According to Sanders’ supporters, his candidacy would have conferred a vital advantage that Clinton lacked: the trust of a much broader section of the voting demographic.

Some supporters of the Vermont senator are also touting him as the only one who can save the Democratic Party.

“Clinton is the candidate of wealthy donors—Sanders is the candidate of the people.”

Sanders confirmed in the interview with the AP that he plans to run for Senate again in 2018. He also did not rule out the possibility of another presidential run in 2020.

“Four years is a long time from now. We’ll take one thing at a time, but I’m not ruling out anything,” he said.

But age is not on his side. His is 75-years-old and will be 79 in 2020. And if he wins in 2020, he will be 83 by the end of his first term, as Policy Mic notes.

Presently, Trump at 70 is the oldest to assume office as president of the United States.

[Featured Image by Andrew Cline/Shutterstock]