Bernie Sanders blasts Democratic Party after Kamala Harris loss

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders issued a scathing statement about what he called the Democratic Party’s “disastrous” campaign after Vice President Kamala Harris lost the presidential race to former President Donald Trump.

The independent, who caucuses with Democrats, said 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.”

“First it was the white working class, and now it’s also Latino and black workers,” Sanders continued in his statement. “While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right.”

The longtime progressive champion, who ran for president in 2016 and 2020, reflected on how Americans continue to experience economic instability, from income and wealth inequality to a lack of guaranteed paid family and medical leave.

Sanders also criticized continued spending on military aid to Israel.

“Today, despite strong opposition from a majority of Americans, we continue to spend billions funding the extremist Netanyahu government’s all-out war against the Palestinian people, which has led to the horrific humanitarian catastrophe of mass malnutrition and starvation of thousands of kids,” Sanders says. said.

Sanders, who won re-election to a fourth six-year term in the US Senate on Tuesday, casts doubt on the party’s ability to learn its lesson.

“Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign? Will they understand the pain and political alienation that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing? Do they have any ideas how We can take on the increasingly powerful oligarchy that has so much economic and political power, Sanders said.

Sanders said “very serious policy discussions” are now warranted about the way forward for “those of us who are concerned about grassroots democracy and economic justice,” before ending his statement with “Stay tuned.”

Harris conceded the choice in a speech Wednesday at her alma mater, Howard University, in Washington, DC

“While I concede this election, I do not concede the struggle that fueled this campaign,” she said. “The fight for freedom, for opportunity, for justice and the dignity of all people – a fight for the ideals at the heart of our nation – the ideals that reflect America at our best.”

Harris’ concession speech came after Trump was expected to win the swing states of Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.