Bernie Sanders tells Jimmy Kimmel why he is electable, and about God and greed

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday, and Kimmel asked him about criticism that he's too far left, too old, too unkempt to be elected president. Sanders laughed and gave two reasons. The first is that in some polls he's doing better than Hillary Clinton in a match-up against Donald Trump. The second is that he is bringing people into the political process who have otherwise given up.

"I believe that if I am the Democratic nominee, you're going to see voter turnout go way up, I think we're going to win the White House, I think we recapture the Senate, we do well in the House, we win governors' chairs," he said. "Our job is not just to defeat Republicans, our job is to revitalize American democracy, bring people who have given up on the political system back into the system, and create a government which represents them rather than large campaign donors."

Kimmel jumped on a "God forbid!" Sanders dropped in to ask whether he believes in God, and if not, whether that is an electoral deal-breaker. Sanders artfully dodged the question by saying he is who he is, that he believes "we're all in this together," and that, like Pope Francis, he doesn't think we should worship money and billionaires.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

YouTube

Watch On

As a bonus clip, Kimmel finished his interview by asking Sanders what he thought about Larry David's portrayal of him on Saturday Night Live, and Sander rewarded him with a brief Larry David impersonation. Well played, team. Peter Weber