Nov 6, 2024 - Politics & Policy

Sanders' searing review of the Democratic Party

Stephen Neukam

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) arrives for a hearing about drug pricing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on September 24, 2024 in Washington, DC. — Bernie Sanders (I-VT) arrives for a hearing about drug pricing on Capitol Hill on Sept. 24. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the leading progressive voice in Congress, argued Wednesday that the Democratic Party's disastrous election performance is no surprise after it "abandoned" the working class.

Why it matters: Vice President Harris' loss is opening up old wounds for some Democrats, and Sanders' comments are surely the first shot in a battle between moderates and progressives.

Sanders said in a statement that the working class is abandoning the party after the party abandoned them.
Harris underperformed President-elect Trump with middle-class voters, a key reason for her loss.

The big picture: Sanders said the party will "probably not" learn its lesson after its historic defeat.

What are those lessons? Sanders said voters are tired of the status quo, which he said Democratic leadership "defends."
He pointed to wealth inequality, the price of prescription drugs, lack of child care and the war in Gaza as issues that the Democrats have failed on.
"In the coming weeks and months those of us concerned about grassroots democracy and economic justice need to have some very serious political discussions," Sanders said.

Between the lines: This ideological divide in the Democratic Party is not new. Many of these same dynamics gave Sanders an early boost in the party's 2020 presidential primaries.

And now that the party has failed this cycle, all of these conversations about the direction of its leadership and the substance of its platform will take flight.
"Stay tuned," Sanders concluded.

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Sanders' searing review of the Democratic Party

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