Sen. Bernie Sanders went on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Wednesday to hammer home the messages of the Democratic National Convention, which wrapped up its third night a short while before Colbert’s program began. Colbert began the appearance by asking Bernie about what he misses and what he does not miss about the campaign trail. Sen. Sanders joked that doing “three or four rallies a day” could get tiring, but that he did miss the diverse number of people he got to meet on the campaign trail. Colbert remarked that he thought both Sanders’ and Biden’s appeal to many voters is their willingness to honestly listen to the hardships many Americans face, and receive that message.
From there, Colbert asked Sen. Sanders about the proposals and compromises that were made between the progressive wing of the party and the more conservative Democratic establishment as represented by former Vice President Biden, and how Sanders felt about them. There has always been a lot of talk about Sanders’ lack of diplomacy (something I personally don’t buy into). However, for anyone still bristling about Sanders and what he will and will not do for the Democratic Party, his answer and the entirety of his appearance on Colbert’s show should hopefully put those misgivings to rest.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Well, Stephen, what we did—and I really appreciate the vice president for doing this—we sat down and we chatted, and we said all right, look, we have disagreements—we did have disagreements, we have disagreements today—the best path forward would be us to have at least six task forces, dealing with the economy, health care, education, climate change, immigration, criminal justice reform. We would bring forth our best people. He would bring forth his best people. And they would try to work out some compromises, some proposals, which would make sense to both parties; and that’s what we did.
So I’m not here to tell you Joe Biden’s views are my views, they’re not. On health care we disagree, we disagree on a number of issues. But what I will say is that if the resolutions—adopted in the task forces—are in fact implemented, it would make Biden the most progressive president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Sanders went on to make it clear that obviously Medicare for All, foundational to his campaign, was not adopted by the Biden-Harris platform, and while he personally feels—as do millions of Americans—that it is the best way to step forward and away from our current “cruel” system, Biden’s position isn’t mutually exclusive, saying “Joe also wants to work towards universal healthcare, and also has some very serious proposals.”
Proposals, Sanders says, that would “deal with the outrageous greed of the pharmaceutical industry.” Sanders then lauded the platform for its focus on clean energy and its aggressive pursuit of non-fossil fuel technologies. Sen. Sanders also reminded the audience that Biden’s proposals also include ending private prisons and detention centers and cash bail. And in general, Sanders explained that Biden’s view on the economy was “coming from the right place,” including raises to the federal minimum wage, support for unions and unionization, and arguably one of the most important and actionable policies with potentially immediate benefits to both the economy and Americans’ lives: an actual plan to rebuild our country’s infrastructure.
Sanders then reiterated that while it was not identical to his own, he felt confident that Biden’s agenda was a “strong progressive agenda.” Sanders also made it clear that all the words and progressive agendas on the planet will mean nothing if we do not get out and make sure to put Democratic candidates in office. To be clear, Sen. Sanders says he believes that Joe Biden’s administration could be the most progressive presidency since FDR because of the historic similarities to the moment our country faces. And Sanders says that he believes that regardless of your feelings about Biden, he knows that Biden “understands” the historic nature of this moment.
Colbert then pivoted to talk about how the House has passed its own follow-up to the CARES bill, giving stimulus help to many Americans, but that the Republican-led Senate seemed to be stalled. Sen. Sanders said that he was disgusted by Senate Republicans’ actions “This goes beyond politics,” he said, and added that when the first stimulus package was passed, “everyone knew” that the provisions in the last bill “were going to expire” and “Mitch McConnell did nothing.” Sanders points to Trump’s “phony proposals” that may not even be legally implementable.
SEN. SANDERS: The Republicans—and I don’t mean to be partisan—but they have literally turned their backs on the pain and the suffering that tens of millions of people are experiencing right now.
Colbert points out that this move by the Republican Party just seems “politically dumb,” in that our economy’s ability to “chug along” during this pandemic was almost solely the result of Americans still having money to spend in our ludicrous economy. Here Sanders explains the pathetic Greek tragedy which is the Republican Party. “Here’s the problem that Mitch McConnell has: There are 53 Republicans in the Senate and probably half of them don’t want to vote for anything. They do not want to vote another nickel for the American people.” But that means that about half of those Republicans will vote with Democrats, if they’re allowed to. Sanders explains very clearly that it’s a “difficult political position for the Majority Leader to be in the minority.”
Then Colbert gets into the most pressing issue: Trump and the Republican Party’s willingness to do away with our democratic process in order to stay in power and out of legal trouble. Sanders, like virtually anyone with a first-grade civics understanding of our country, says everything that we all know: dismantling the USPS, saying you want to push back elections, acting like there is any meaningful ambivalence to Trump having any decision powers around whether or not he leaves office, is fascism. It’s authoritarianism. It’s totalitarianism. Sen. Sanders says the Democratic Party and its grassroots activists will be doing everything possible to make sure Americans can and do vote. “This is a major, major issue.”
Finally, Sanders reminds America that private pharmaceutical companies are getting billions in taxpayer money to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. This means that if and when a working vaccine becomes available, all Americans should be able to receive one free of charge, “because you are already paying for it, through your tax dollars.”
COVID-19 is ravaging the country, and we have no idea whether it will even be safe to vote in person come November. With Turnout2020, you can start calling swing state voters now—and help them request an absentee ballot. No one should have to risk their health to exercise their right to vote. Sign up to volunteer today.
USPS.
