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]
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
-
Trump officials try to reverse DOGE-led firingsSpeed Read Mass firings by Elon Musk's team have included employees working on the H5N1 bird flu epidemic and US nuclear weapons programs
-
Trump blames Ukraine for war after US-Russia talksSpeed Read The US and Russia have agreed to work together on ending the Ukraine war — but President Trump has flipped America's approach
-
Musk's DOGE seeks access to IRS, Social Security filesSpeed Read If cleared, the Department of Government Efficiency would have access to tax returns, bank records and other highly personal information about most Americans
-
Senate confirms RFK Jr. as health secretarySpeed Read The noted vaccine skeptic is now in charge of America's massive public health system
-
Trump lays out plans for broad 'reciprocal' tariffsSpeed Read Tariffs imposed on countries that are deemed to be treating the US unfairly could ignite a global trade war and worsen American inflation
-
Top US prosecutors resign rather than drop Adams casespeed read The interim US attorney for the Southern District and five senior Justice Department officials quit following an order to drop the charges against Mayor Eric Adams
-
Senate confirms Gabbard as intelligence chiefSpeed Read The controversial former Democratic lawmaker, now Trump loyalist, was sworn in as director of national intelligence
-
Trump, Putin plan Ukraine peace talks without KyivSpeed Read President Donald Trump spoke by phone to Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was not included
