Bernie Sanders on Resisting Trump, Why the Democratic Party is an "Absolute Failure" & More

[Music] this is democracy Now democracynow.org The War and Peace report I'm Amy Goodman over 4 000 people gathered in Chicago in June for the three-day people Summit organized in part by national nurses United former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders gave a major speech where he attacked both president Trump and the Democratic party Senator Sanders spoke at a time when some of his supporters are pushing for him to form a new political party ahead of the 2020 election and run again for the White House today we spend the hour airing Bernie Sanders address I want to thank many many of you for your work on our presidential campaign you understood something that the establishment the pundits to the corporate media did not know and still do not know and that is that the American people are profoundly sick and tired of establishment politics and establishment economics [Applause] as Roseanne just said the question all over this country that people are asking themselves is when will my life get better and it ain't gonna get better through establishment economics or establishment politics that's for sure [Applause] at a time of massive and vulgar income and wealth inequality and the movement of our country toward an oligarchy where a handful of billionaires control our economy our political life and much of the media you understood that the American people want a government that represents all of us not just the one percent and that's what all of us are fighting for and I thank you very much for all that you have done are doing and will do and by the way Jane and I just returned from the UK the other day and I want to tell you I want to tell you what you already know is that the movement for economic social racial and environmental justice is not just growing here in the U.S it is growing worldwide all over the world all over the world people are asking how does it happen that globally the top one percent now owns more wealth than the bottom 99 percent how does it happen that the eight wealthiest people on this planet own more wealth than the bottom half of the world's population 3.4 billion people and just the other day just the other day in the UK against all of the predictions the labor party there won 30 new seats and they won those seats not by moving to the right not by becoming more conciliatory they won those seats by standing up to the ruling class of the UK and all of us congratulate Jeremy corbyn and his team for what they've accomplished this evening what I want to do is give you as I see it some good news I want to be honest and tell you about the bad news that I see but I'm going to conclude with very good news now the good news the good news is that together because of the Grassroots efforts of millions of Americans from coast to coast taking on the entire political establishment our campaign was able to win 22 states in the Democratic primary over 13 million votes [Applause] some 46 percent of the popular vote together in virtually every state in virtually I think every single state we won the votes of young people under 40. young people who are black and white and Latino and Asian-American and Native American we won those votes by overwhelming numbers and we ended up I believe getting almost twice as many votes as Clinton and Trump combined among young people and what that means what that means and please do not forget this is that our ideas and our Progressive Vision we are the future of this country nope it's not Bernie it is you we are in this together and always have been and always will be together during our campaign we organized some of the largest rallies in the campaign speaking to over 1.4 million people in other words in other words we have the enthusiasm we have the momentum and as I look around this theater tonight I can see we have the energy to transform America [Applause] and this is what else we have accomplished after the campaign we help write the most Progressive political platform of any party in American history [Applause] together we transformed campaign Finance in this country and showed the world you don't need Wall Street and corporate money to run an effective campaign [Applause] when you stand for something people will respond we receive two and a half million individual contributions averaging hahaha that's right 27 bucks but most importantly we may have lost the election in 2016 but there is no question there is no question there is no question that we have won the Battle of ideas [Applause] and we are continuing to win that battle and that is brothers and sisters no small thing because of the grassroot efforts of activists like you throughout this country we have in recent years made enormous progress in advancing the progressive agenda and I want all of you you know sometimes what we all do is we look at today and we say well you know that's kind of the way it always was that's not the case ideas that just a few years ago seemed radical and unattainable are now today widely supported and in fact some of them are being implemented as we speak [Applause] and I want you to appreciate what together we have accomplished don't take this for granted five years ago not a long time ago with a federal minimum wage of seven dollars and 25 cents an hour a starvation wage if five years ago somebody here jumped up and they said Bernie you know we got to raise that minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour person next to you would have said you are nuts you can't double the minimum wage at one time can't be done in fact three years ago with the Democratic Leadership was talking about was ten dollars and 10 cents an hour that was then today Federal legislation for a 15 an hour minimum wage which I introduced in the Senate a few weeks ago now has now has 31 co-sponsors in the Senate and and 155 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives and 15 an hour legislation is being passed by city councils and state legislatures all across America my understanding is that right here in the state of Illinois a 15 an hour minimum wage bill is on the governor's desk Governor sign that bill thank you all over in Illinois and all over this country the working people of this nation need a raise [Applause] and what we are saying is loudly and clearly as we can is that if you work 40 or 50 hours a week you should not be living in poverty [Applause] but it's not just the minimum wage in the fight for 15. I want you to think about this five years ago if we were here the majority political sentiment in this country among Republicans and many Democrats was that our trade policies were just great what was the problem with NAFTA and PT pncr with China or the TPP so what if those trade policies cost us millions of decent jobs and drove us into a downward spiral a race to the bottom our trade policies were great that was five years ago today the American people all across the political Spectrum are saying that we need new trade agreements that work for workers not just the CEOs of large corporations [Applause] and I want to thank all of you for creating the movement that defeated the trans-pacific partnership [Applause] but it's not just trade that we've had an impact on today the idea of a trillion dollar investment to create up to 15 million jobs good paying jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure is now widely accepted just three years ago not even five years ago three years ago I proposed a trillion dollar investment got virtually no support had to cut it in half but today all across the political Spectrum people understand that we need to repair our Broken Bridges our roads our water systems our Wastewater plants our levees our dams our airports we need to build affordable housing [Applause] five years ago you talked about Paid Family and Medical Leave people don't even know what you were talking about but today not only is support growing for Paid Family and Medical Leave but the very radical concept that women in the year 2017 should not be paid 79 cents on the dollar that we did equal pay for equal work that's also growing former presidential candidate independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders addressing 4 000 people at the people Summit in Chicago in June will return to the speech in a minute as he talks about health care fossil fuels and his free college tuition plan stay with us this is democracy Now democracynow.org The War and Peace report I'm Amy Goodman as we return now to the former presidential candidate independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders addressing 4 000 people at the people Summit in Chicago in June five years ago think about it not a long time ago five years ago there was almost no discussion about making public colleges and universities tuition free [Applause] today all across this country people understand that in a highly competitive global economy it is insane that hundreds of thousands of bright young people cannot afford to go to college and that many of you have left school deeply deeply in debt and what we are seeing now in States and in communities all over this country the movement toward making public colleges and universities tuition free and let me tell you this because I've introduced the legislation next fall on college campuses all over this country you're going to see young people stand up and tell the establishment we're not leaving school a hundred thousand dollars in debt thank you [Applause] think back five years ago there was at that point widespread belief that the Affordable Care Act so-called Obamacare was about as far as we could go as a nation in healthcare that's about it past Obamacare can't do any more today as you know that view is radically changing nurses thank you for your help on this thank you today all over our country the American people understand that there is something profoundly wrong when we Remain the only major country on Earth not to guarantee Health Care to all people as a right not a privilege and there is also something profoundly wrong when millions of Americans cannot afford the prescription drugs that their doctors prescribe and what the American people from coast to coast are catching on to is the function of Health Care is to provide quality care to all people not to make billions in profits for the insurance companies or the drug companies [Applause] and as we as we sit here tonight the California state senate has passed single-payer thank you nurses and now now it's up to the California House and the governor to do the right thing and help us transform Health Care in this country by Leading The Way today by very large and growing numbers the American people understand that climate change is real is caused by human activity and poses a very serious threat to our planet and there is strong and growing support numbers have never been higher for taking on the fossil fuel industry [Applause] and for moving our Energy System to sustainable energy and energy efficiency [Applause] despite the current president of the United States the oh you know who I am talking to but and I'm talking about the American people whatever Trump may think or It's usually the case not think the American the American people understand that we have a moral responsibility to leave this planet healthy and habitable for our children and for our grandchildren and that we can and must lead the world in combating climate change and by the way when we do that we create millions of good paying jobs in America [Applause] further again by overwhelming numbers and you have to understand this by overwhelming numbers the American people's support comprehensive immigration reform and a path toward citizenship no we're not going to scapegoat we're not going to scapegoats the undocumented in this country they are hard-working honest people and we're going to work with them to create a path towards citizenship and again that is again that's not my view that's like your view that in fact is the view of the overwhelming majority of the American people today again again by overwhelming numbers the American people understand that our criminal justice system is broken [Applause] and that there is something wrong and disgraceful when the United States of America has more people in jail than any other country on Earth including China and that there is something profoundly wrong when we understand that the people in jail are disproportionately African-American Latino and Native American the American people including a growing number of conservatives understand that it is absurd that it is crazy that we spend over 80 billion dollars a year to lock up over 2 million of our fellow Americans and all across the political Spectrum including conservatives there is a growing belief that it makes a lot more sense for our young people to invest in jobs and education not jails and incarceration [Applause] further not only are we winning the Battle of ideas on almost every major issue facing this country the vast majority of the American people are on our side but not only are we winning the Battle of ideas we are seeing more and more progressives becoming involved in the political process running for office and winning office and let me just very briefly because there have been victories all across this country let me just mention a few and I apologize if I mispronounced some names I'm not so good at that Jackson Mississippi [Applause] let me repeat that in case you to get it right Jackson Mississippi has a new mayor mayor lumumba [Applause] great City a brotherly love Philadelphia has a new district attorney Larry Chrysler [Applause] Christine Pellegrino [Applause] where is Christie okay hi Christine [Applause] Christine won a landslide victory for the New York State Assembly in a in a district that had overwhelmingly gone for Donald Trump Iowa has a new Progressive in their house Monica Kurth [Applause] in South Fulton Georgia city council as a new member Khalid cabal [Applause] Andrea Jenkins Minneapolis city council Julia pacenda Minneapolis city council two members John Courage San Antonio City Council [Applause] Stephanie Hanson Delaware State Senate Valdez Bravo Portland Oregon [Applause] Rita Moore Oregon School Board Natalie vile St Louis Board of Education Lori Kilpatrick Dallas School Board and brothers and sisters those are just a few of the victories that we have won let me ask you a question how many of you have run for office or actively involved in local campaigns stand up all right [Applause] brothers and sisters this is the political revolution now clearly clearly our progressives have not won in every election they contested we have lost some tough races in Montana in Kansas and in Nebraska but what we showed is that even in these very very red States strong progressives could do far far better than anyone imagined and that with proper organization and Financial Resources we can win in any District in the United States of America [Applause] so the point that I want to make and I hope you all appreciate it is that because of your efforts and the efforts of millions of people all across this country we are making enormous progress in creating our Progressive vision now that's the good news let me give you the bad news that you also know and that is that is that is today today in the white house we have perhaps the worst and most dangerous president in the history of our country and we also have not to be forgotten extreme right-wing leadership in the U.S house and the U.S Senate now what I find particularly disgraceful about Trump it's not just his reactionary economic environmental and social policies or the fact that he lies all the time what I find beyond belief is his incredible hypocrisy this is a man who ran for president telling the people of this country that he was going to stand up for the working class that he was going to stand up to the political and economic establishment and then then once he got elected and without a second's hesitation he brings more billionaires into his administration than any president in history and he hires the former president of Goldman Sachs to be his chief economic advisor and then then four months it isn't within his administration he pushes some of the most destructive pieces of legislation in the modern history of our country legislation that will cause intense suffering and pain for millions of working-class families Mr Trump do not tell us that you are a friend of the working class when you propose to throw 23 million Americans off of Health Care [Applause] don't tell us that you care about Working Families when you want to cut Medicaid by over 800 billion dollars when you want to raise premiums for older workers in a very dramatic way and when you tell Mr Trump two and a half million women in this country that they no longer have the option of getting their Health Care at Planned Parenthood [Applause] president Trump spare us the lies and the hypocrisy don't tell us that you are a friend of Working Families when you propose devastating cuts to Head Start Child Care public education when you make it harder for working-class kids to get a college education because of massive Cuts in the Pell grant program don't tell us that you support workers when you propose massive Cuts in nutrition programs including the WIC program designed for low-income pregnant women and their newborn babies meanwhile at the exact same time and within the exact same legislation As Trump makes massive cuts to life and death programs for millions and millions of children working people the elderly the sick and the poor at the same exact time he proposes a budget that over a 10-year period would provide three trillion dollars in tax breaks to the top one percent [Applause] Trump's budget is the most massive transfer of wealth from working people to the billionaire class that we have ever seen in this country if you can believe it he wants to repeal the estate tax which applies only to the top two tenths of one percent and that means that while children will go hungry people will die because they don't have access to health care the Walton family a family worth 130 billion could get up to a 52 billion dollar tax break what kind of morality is that when you take from the most vulnerable people in this country to give to the very very richest and Mr Trump we say to you tonight you are not going to get away with that absurd set of priorities former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaking at the people Summit in Chicago in June will return to the conclusion of his speech in a minute where he talks about why he believes the Democratic party is an absolute failure stay with us this is democracy Now democracynow.org The War and Peace report I'm Amy Goodman as we return now to the former presidential candidate independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders addressing 4 000 people at the people Summit in Chicago in June we have a president who displays every day a massive disrespect for democracy for tolerance and for traditional American values his unprecedented attack against the media is nothing less than an effort to intimidate those who would criticize him and to unders undermine respect for Dissent and a free press his attacks against the Judiciary seek to diminish the separation of powers that our constitution outlined the degree to which he tells blatant lies is unprecedented for an American president and his outrageous claim that up to five million people in the last election voted illegally is nothing less than an attempt to tell Republic Republican Governors all across this country to accelerate their efforts to suppress the vote I also find it strange that we have a president who seems to be more comfortable with autocrats and authoritarian politicians than with leaders of democratic nations all of us are scratching our heads trying to find out why is Trump so much enamid with Vladimir Putin a man who has severely repressed democracy in his own country and spent the last number of years trying to destabilize democracy in countries around the world including our own Americans are wondering why Trump seems to have such affection for the leaders of Saudi Arabia a hereditary monarchy which treats women as third-class Citizens and which promotes wahhabism a radical and extreme version of Islam that has spread throughout the Muslim world and lastly in terms of trump lastly in terms of trump he is doing what demagogues have done throughout history and that is instead of bringing people together to confront the serious problems that we face what he is doing is trying to divide us up by our religion by our Race by our agenda or where our families came from even a very conservative president even a very conservative Republican president like George W bush understood that one of the important functions of a leader in a Democratic Society is to bring people together not separate them and I say I say to president Trump this country has struggled too long too many people have fought too many people have died too many people have been beaten too many people have gone to jail in the fights against racism sexism xenophobia and homophobia Mr Trump we are not going backwards we are going forwards [Applause] now I am often asked I'm often asked by the media and others how did it come about that Donald Trump the most unpopular presidential candidate in the modern history of our country won the election and my answer is [Applause] and my answer is that Trump didn't win the election the Democratic party lost the election let us let us be very very clear the current model the current model and the current strategy of the democratic party is an absolute failure this this is not this is not my opinion this is the facts [Applause] you know we focus a lot on the presidential election but we also have to understand that Democrats have lost the U.S House the U.S Senate Republicans now control almost two-thirds of the governor's chairs throughout this country and over the last nine years Democrats have lost almost 1 000 legislative seats in States all across this country today today in almost half of the states in America Democratic party has almost no political Presence at all now if that's not a failure if that's not a failed model I don't know what a failed model is [Applause] the Democratic party Democratic party needs fundamental change fundamental change what it needs is to open up its doors to working people and young people and all people who are prepared to fight for social and economic Justice [Applause] the Democratic party must finally understand which side it is on and that cannot be the side of Wall Street or the fossil fuel industry or the drug companies [Applause] brothers and sisters brothers and sisters these are difficult times and pivotal moments in American history and I am more than a whale of the political obstacles that we face I understand very well the nature of our corrupt political system which as a result of citizens united allows billionaires like the Koch brothers to spend unlimited amounts of money allows them and they are billionaire friends to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in an election on ugly 30-second ads that tried to undermine the honesty and integrity of progressive campaigns and that's all they can do because they can't stand and defend their position on the issues and we just saw this a few weeks ago in Montana's Rob questia [Applause] and what happened to Rob is going to continue to happen what happened to Rob is he did a great job raising money from small individual contributions I think it was 25 bucks a contribution fantastic raised over five six million dollars fantastic did great but but the billionaire class got very very nervous and they put almost 7 million dollars in independent expenditures by and by a ten to one ratio their independent expenditures outspent robs and he lost that election now I also understand that corporate media is not particularly interested in our issues the issues that impact Working Families but very often they prefer six second sound bites and endless discussion about political gossip in fact in the last presidential election there was less discussion about the real issues impacting the American people than in any election in American history and I also understand that over 90 percent of Talk Radio is right wing or extreme right wing I got all of that I know that that's what we're up against and we're also have to deal with the fact that the American people are today extremely demoralized that we have the lowest voter turnout of any major country on Earth and I am more than aware that Republican Governors all across this country are working overtime to suppress the vote to make it harder for people of color poor people old people young people to vote that is what we are facing today and that is a lot of obstacles but this is what I also know I also know something about American history and I know that 150 years ago in this country working people had no rights they were treated like animals they were forced to work 12 14 hours a day children of 10 11 years of age were working in factories and losing their fingers kids were working in fields and workers 150 years ago stood up on the tremendous with tremendous opposition against them and they said to their bosses they said we are not animals we're not beasts of burdens we are human beings we're going to form trade unions and I thank the American Trade union movement for all they have done and my pledge to you is we will pass legislation making it easier for workers to form unions [Applause] and when we think about American history we think about a hundred years ago 120 years ago when African Americans under the most outrageous conditions stood up and fought for dignity and we will never know never know how many were beaten how many were lynched how many were jailed in the fight for basic human dignity but we do know that over the years millions of people black and white and everybody else stood together and said that we will end the scourge of racism in this country [Applause] and many of the children don't know this but a hundred years ago today women in America did not have the right to vote to not have the right to do the jobs or get the education they wanted to have a hundred years ago no time at all but women stood up they went on hunger strikes they went to jail and they said women in America and they stood with their male allies they said women in America will not continue to be second-class citizens [Applause] and 20 years ago 25 years ago no time at all people who were gay who wore public with their sexuality were humiliated were beaten but the gay community and their straight allies against incredible pressure stood up and said that in the United States of America people will have the right to love whomever they want regardless of their gender now I've given you that brief overview of American History to make this simple point now is not the time to throw your hands up and say I'm giving up I'm in despair I'm burnt out I want you to think about the incredibly Brave heroes in heroines in our history against unbelievably daunting odds who risk their lives for social justice for economic Justice for racial Justice now the fight that we are engaged in now is a tough one no question about it we are taking on an extremely powerful billionaire class whose greed has destroyed the middle class of this country whose greed says that it is not enough that the top one percent today owns almost as much wealth as the bottom ninety percent not enough they want it all and what we are saying today we are going to stand up to that greed to that recklessness and tell the billionaire class that this nation belongs to all of us this democracy belongs to all of us [Applause] and when we stand together when we stand together and not allow demagogues to divide us up by the color of our skin or the country we came from or our sexual orientation or our agenda When We Stand Together there is nothing that will stop us thank you all very much former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaking at the people Summit in Chicago addressing about 4 000 people and that does it for today's show if you'd like to get a DVD copy you can go to democracynow.org democracy Now is produced by Mike Burke Dina Guster nermeen Sheikh Carla Wills Laura goddessdeaner Sam Alcock John Hamilton Robbie Karen honey Masood charina nadura Andre Lewis Miguel negera and Paul Huckabee are Engineers special thanks to Becca Staley Julie Crosby Hugh Grant David prude Dennis Moynihan Ariel Boone vestica DARS and Anthony Manzo and to our camera crew John Randolph here in Meadows Anna ozbeck Matt Ely and Kaya serola I'm Amy Goodman thanks so much for joining us [Music] foreign

Channel: Democracy Now!

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Keywords: Democracy Now, Amy Goodman, DN, News, Politics, democracynow.org, Video, Independent Media, Daily News, Breaking News, World News, Interview, Bernie Sanders, The People's Summit, Senator, Donald Trump, Jeremy Corbyn, income inequality, infrastructure, tuition, student debt, Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, criminal justice, mass incarceration, Medicaid, Medicare, Chicago, LGBTQ, ciivl rights, social justice, unions

Id: AqcaGbRkb8k

Length: 55min 5sec (3305 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 03 2017