Bernie Sanders Shoots Down Kristen Welker As She Tries To Divide Democrats And Independents

Meet The Press's Kristen Welker tried to use Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to divide Democrats and Independents, but the senator wasn't having it.

PoliticusUSA is ad-free and independent because of the support of readers like you. Please support us by becoming a subscriber.

Throughout the years I have covered Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), one consistency in his dealings with the mainstream media has been his low tolerance for political nonsense and divisive questions.

Meet The Press’s Kristen Welker tried to use Sanders and the Fighting Oligarchy tour to ask if he was trying to start a third party, because Sanders suggested that people get into politics and run as Independents.

Video of Sanders on Meet The Press:

Sen. Sanders gave an interesting answer:

No, we’re not trying to start a third party. What we're trying to do is strengthen American democracy, where faith in both the Democratic and Republican parties right now is extremely low. We are living, Kristen, in the richest country in the history of the world. And yet you got one person, Mr. Musk, who owns more wealth than the bottom 53% of American households. That is insane. That is oligarchy on steroids. Meanwhile, we have 60% of our workers living paycheck to paycheck. We have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major nation on earth. And we have over 20% of seniors in America living on $15,000 a year or less. What the American people are saying is that they want, and what our tour was about, is to say that they want an economy that works for all of us, not just for Mr. Musk and other billionaires.

Now, my concern right now is you have Democrats appropriately – and I'm working with them – talking about Trump's movement toward authoritarianism. Vigorously opposing the so-called reconciliation bill to give over a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the 1%, and make massive cuts in Medicaid, nutrition and housing. Opposing what Musk is doing to dismember the Social Security Administration and the Veterans Administration, making it hard for our veterans to get decent healthcare or benefits on time. We're on the same page.