Bernie Sanders calls for accountability in the Democratic Party

On By Littum

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders did not mince words in a scathing statement on Wednesday.

“It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party that has abandoned working-class people would find that the working class has abandoned them,” said Sanders, Vermont’s senior senator.

“First it was the white working class, and now it’s also Latino and black workers,” Sanders said.

Sanders won re-election to a fourth term on Tuesday. He singled out wealth inequality, a declining standard of living in the United States, lack of full health care coverage and support for Israel’s recent military campaigns as issues Democrats need to focus on. Sanders’ 2016 presidential run was a key factor in pushing the dialogue in the Democratic Party to the left.

Sanders has built his political career outside of — and often criticizes — the Democratic Party, but he caucuses with Democrats in the Senate.