Sanders Believes That Trump Could Move The U.S. Into ‘Authoritarian Mode’
Senator Bernie Sanders has called President Donald Trump “delusional” and believes he will drive the U.S. into an authoritarian mode, CNN reports. Speaking on CNN’s OutFront on Friday, he told Erin Burnett that even though he doesn’t like using harsh words to describe others, Trump’s actions have forced him to deem the president of the United States as being “delusional.” Sanders defended his opinion by saying that he has never been one to attack people simply based on their views, even though he is considered to be more to the left than his fellow senators.
“I use the term ‘delusional’ with regard to Trump when he said there were 3 to 5 million ‘illegals’ who voted in the last election… That is delusional. Nobody in the world believes that is the case. There is zero evidence to back it up. But he makes that statement. So I think the word ‘delusional’ is correct.”
.@SenSanders on what he says are "harsh terms" he's used to describe @POTUS: "This guy lies all of the time" https://t.co/gX8T7HgDE4
— OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) February 11, 2017
Sanders also pointed out that he believes Trump is a “total hypocrite” who has put Americans into “a new era” built around hatred and fear. Sanders also commented on Trump’s attacks on the media and the judicial system, pointing out that Trump had failed to grasp the very constitution that he had sworn to uphold and protect after taking office as the president of the United States.
“Clearly, we have a President who does not understand what our Constitution about, what democracy is about. And I think there is a fear in this country of this nation under Trump moving into a more authoritarian mode.”
Sanders further added that Trump was a “pathological liar.” All along Sanders defended himself claiming that he didn’t feel good using such harsh terms to describe Trump.
“I disagreed with George Bush all the time — never called him a pathological liar, because he was not. Just a conservative president. But this guy lies all of the time.”
There was no immediate response from the White House regarding Sander’s comments.
Sanders, a presidential candidate himself, lost the democratic primary to Hillary Clinton, who eventually lost the presidential race to Donald Trump. Throughout his campaign, Sanders had been critical of the Wall Street billionaires, the U.S.’s major financial interests and the income inequality among Americans. Last week, Sanders had called President Trump “a fraud” for abandoning his campaign promises and going back to bed with Wall Street. Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union, Sanders told Jake Tapper that Trump was a “fraud” for working with Wall Street to roll back some banking regulations that would help the rich become richer at the expense of the working class.
“It is hard not to laugh, to see President Trump alongside these Wall Street guys. I have to say this, Jake, and I don’t mean to be disrespectful, this guy is a fraud.”
Sanders was especially critical of “the billionaires” in Trump’s cabinets, one example being his major financial adviser, Gary Cohn, the former president of Goldman Sachs. Sanders pointed out that even though Trump had promised throughout his campaign that he would not cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, the people he had appointed were going to do exactly that.
Sanders added that he thought Trump was a good showman and that was the precise reason he was going to sell out the American middle class who had put their trust on him.
“Man, this guy, he’s a good showman, I’ll give him that. He’s a good TV guy.
“I think he is going to sell out the middle class and the working class of this country. He told us, in fact, it’s in the Republican platform, he’s going to bring back Glass-Steagall, we’re going to be dividing up commercial banks from investment banks to insurance companies. Then he has all of the big Wall Street guys on his side, and now he is working for Wall Street.”
[Featured Image by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]
