'What does the Democratic Party stand for?' Sanders doubles down on criticism after Harris loss
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said he believes Vice President Kamala Harris ran a "strong campaign," but he doubled down on accusing the Democratic Party of losing touch with the priorities of working-class Americans.
Sanders told NBC and CNN on Sunday that, while he thinks the Biden administration’s policies have been pro-worker and favorable for unions, the Democratic Party failed to directly acknowledge the full extent of hardship for many voters in 2024.
“It’s about ‘What does the Democratic Party stand for?’ Do ordinary people say ‘Yeah, that is a party that is fighting for my interests?’” Sanders told NBC's "Meet the Press."
On CNN’s "State of the Union," Sanders told host Dana Bash that the political reality for Democrats, who lost control of the White House and the Senate in Tuesday's general election, is that “the working class of this country is angry and they have a reason to be angry,” highlighting statistics on poverty among children and elderly Americans.
Sanders also said President-Elect Donald Trump made the right move for his campaign when he told working people “‘I feel your pain, I know that you’re hurting and I have an explanation." While the longtime senator called Trump's broader pitch to Americans "bogus," he directed Democrats to "tell the working class that you understand what is going on in their lives, and you’re going to fight for them."
He specifically cited raising the minimum wage for workers, cutting health care costs and prioritizing affordable housing.
Sanders' comments come after he released a scathing statement last week following Harris' loss.
"It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them," Sanders wrote. "While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right."
But Sanders didn't only talk about how Democrats across the country can change their pitch to American voters on Sunday. Asked on "Meet the Press" whether Biden should have left the presidential race sooner, which some political observers have argued created a hurdle for Harris, Sanders declined to blame the president: “I’m not going to look backwards… Kamala ran a strong campaign, she did everything she could.”
He was also asked about some calls for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to step down in order for Biden to appoint a younger justice in preparation for a second Trump term. Sotomayor herself has not signaled that she's considering retiring before January.
While Sanders admitted he had heard "a little bit" of talk about the suggestion, he still said "I don't think it's sensible."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sanders doubles down on criticism of Democrats after Harris loss