Bernie Sanders said the upcoming stretch of days leading up to the November election is “the most important in American history” and urged Midwest Dem organizers and activists to help toss “authoritarian” President Trump out of office.
“He does not believe in our constitution. Every day in one form or another, he is undermining American democracy,” said Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont and two-time presidential candidate who won Wisconsin’s 2016 Dem presidential primary.
Sanders slammed both the president and the GOP-controlled Senate for the joint response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which he described as “an outrage beyond outrage.”
But speaking to a joint virtual breakfast meeting featuring state Dem parties from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and North and South Dakota, Sanders said the presidential campaign can’t focus solely on defeating Trump.
“We have got to lay out a vision for the American people today who are struggling and hurting in a way that we have never seen for a very, very long time,” he said.
Sanders touched on a range of his key policy issues, touting the importance of reducing income inequality, changing a “corrupt” political system, rebuilding infrastructure and the education system, addressing climate change and guaranteeing healthcare for all.
“The day after the election, we have got to rally the American people to create an agenda that works for all, not just large corporations and the 1 percent,” he said.
Sanders rounded out the hour-long event, which also featured former presidential candidates and Cory Booker and Michael Bennet, U.S. Reps. Mark Pocan and two lawmakers from the so-called Squad, a group of four progressive women in the House.
Pocan also slammed Trump in his address, labeling him a “truly awful president” who is “more about Wall Street than Wisconsin.”
“He spent his entire time in the White House trying to take away healthcare, the Affordable Care Act, from the American people without any clue on how to replace it,” said Pocan, D-Town of Vermont. “Donald Trump fans the ugliness of xenophobia and racism, homophobia, and misogyny, all for his own personal benefit, regardless of the people he hurts along the way.”
Pocan urged viewers to “vote like there’s no tomorrow.”
“In many ways, there may not be if we don’t,” he said.
