Bernie Sanders Wants Trump Voters To ‘Feel The Bern’ In 2016
Democratic presidential nominee, Bernie Sanders, wants Trump voters to “feel the Bern” in 2016. The senator from Vermont appeared on CBS‘s Face the Nation Sunday morning and made it clear that he plans on persuading supporters of Republican front runner Donald Trump to stand in his campaigns corner in the 2016 presidential race.
Sanders, who has been the voice of millennials and has rallied a base of young voters unmatched by any candidate from either party, claimed Sunday morning that a strong majority of Trump voters are “working class people” who are fed up with longer hours that result in lower wages, losing out on employment opportunities to China, and high tuition.
“Many of Trump’s supporters are working-class people and they are angry,” Mr. Sanders said. “What Trump has done successfully, I would say, is take that anger, take that anxiety about terrorism and say to a lot of people in this country, look, the reason for our problems is because of Mexicans … or he says about the Muslims, they are all terrorists, and we got to keep them out of this country.”
Mr. Sanders continued to comment Sunday on how he believes the concerns voiced by Trump’s supporters can be addressed in a way that resonates with the whole rather than the few in terms of middle class.
“We can make the case that if we really want to address the issues that people are concerned about, why the middle class is disappearing, massive income and wealth inequality in this country, that we need policies that bring us together, that take on the greed of Wall Street, the greed of corporate America, and create a middle class that works for all of us, rather than an economy that works just for a few.”
When asked if people should be concerned more with what he (Sanders) is talking about, rather than what Trump is promoting, Senator Sanders made it clear that his goal is to bring voters back to an agenda of unity. Rather than translating the build up of anger from unemployment and minimum wage and directing it towards foreign ethnic groups or religions such as Mexicans and Muslims, Sanders suggested the need to attack the issues at hand with unity and demand that Congress pass legislation that creates decent jobs, raises the minimum wage, demands pay equity for women, and makes college tuition affordable.
It didn’t take long for the billionaire real estate mogul turned presidential candidate to rebut. Trump took to Twitter following Sunday’s interview to respond on Sander’s comments.
.@BernieSanders-who blew his campaign when he gave Hillary a pass on her e-mail crime, said that I feel wages in America are too high. Lie!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 27, 2015
Sanders made it clear in Sunday’s interview that he would not attack former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the way Obama did in 2008.
“Do I have to wage horrible attacks against Hillary Clinton? I’m not going to do that,” he told moderator John Dickerson. “But what I will do is contrast our ideas and my record with Hillary Clinton. That’s what elections are about and that’s what people want to hear.”
As far as Sanders and Trump, the two candidates, despite being opposites in terms of policy, ironically draw parallels in how they are viewed as the extremists in their respected parties. They have been able to build fervent followings and are without a doubt the surprise political stories of the 2016 presidential race.
If America’s current political sweetheart in Bernie Sanders is able to tap into Trump’s voters and persuade them to back him come next fall, the idea of a socialist becoming the 45th president of the Untied States of America may come to fruition.
(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
