In a wide-ranging conversation with Chi-Raq director Spike Lee, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) argued that Hillary Clinton lost the election to Donald Trump because she could not replicate the enthusiasm President Obama inspired or assuage voters' "economic angst":
Sanders: [In 2016] it would be hard to suggest that the people of this country were enthusiastic about the Clinton campaign. There was not the energy we have seen in the Obama campaign, and what ended up happening was voter turnout was low. She won the black community overwhelmingly, but turnout was low. She lost a lot of white, working-class people. That's just the fact. [...] A lot of people who voted for Donald Trump did not vote for his racist statements, his statements on immigration, on women. They didn’t support that. But what Trump tapped into is a lot of economic angst and anger and frustration.Lee: You think people can separate the racist and sexist comments he made from his policies?Sanders: Yes. I think what they are saying is, "I need a job, my kid needs to go to college, Mr Trump is promising that. I think he will probably not carry through on his racist, sexist policies. Let's vote for the economic issues." That’s what I think happened. [The Guardian]
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