Bernie Sanders blames election loss on Kamala Harris listening to billionaires over the working class

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/bernie-sanders-kamala-harris-us-election-loss-b2760587.html

48 comments

  1. >“I ran all over the country trying to elect Kamala Harris and beg them talk to the needs of the working class, talk about raising the minimum wage to a living wage, talk about real health care reform, talk about building the kinds of massive amounts of housing that we need, putting checks on landlords,” Sanders said. “But they used their billionaire friends.”

  3. Housing assistance, raising the minimum wage, and tackling corporate greed were the *main points* of the Harris campaign.

  4. Bernie Sanders, AOC, Jasmine Crockett, et al, are the partisan champions of the working class Democrats need right now. They’re loud, they’re proud.

  5. Everybody thinks that the reason Kamala Harris lost is because the thing they think is most important wasn’t prioritised.

  6. The american political system means that you wither listen to the billionaires or yku lose because they are the ones paying for your campaign.

  7. Yes, Kamala listening to billionaires is why 70 million people voted for a rapist. I’m sure that’s the only reason.

    Shut the fuck up, Bernie.

  8. For all the wrong reasons (and for whatever reason I for hell know), Trump is “charismatic.”

    I like Bernie, but he is gaslighting himself. America, for the most part, is dumb and lazy. Kamala lost to “concepts of a plan”. She lost because lazy voters who COULD vote, DIDN’T.

    My friends, my family, ALL IDIOTS. The, “I’m not voting, they are both crooks and political pawns”.

    Well DUH, that has been politics for decades. Republican’s don’t give a fuck about you. Democrats give a-little- bit-of-a-fuck about you. Two party system, make a choice. It sucks, but hold your nose and vote for the part that gives a little fuck about you, because otherwise the party that WILL (has/does) WIN, is the one that only cares about your vote, and now they got it, you can fuck off.

    Democrats, find a charismatic leader to put on the ticket and start taking control of the “news” media. We know you give only a little bit of a fuck about us, find someone as your poster child for your TV ads and start winning again.

  9. Kinda, but it was beyond Kamala. The Party does not allow anyone to run for president who doesn’t prioritize billionaires over the working class. Until that changes, the puppets are just puppets. It’s the puppet masters that need to be dealt with.

  10. Schrödinger’s election loss. Seems to have been caused by whatever happens to align with the political narrative of the speaker.

  11. It wasn’t just one thing Bernie.

    And that inflation knocked out quite a few people all around the world in their elections.

    I’ll be downvoted.

  12. The working class wanted immigrants deported, is Bernie OK with that?

  14. They voted for a dumb ass Nazi over a beautiful ,smart , woman of color and that’s the bottom line.

  15. I hate when politicians use a basic question to preach. Sure, Kamala blew it, would have been enough. But Bernie is out there saying unelectable shit, lost his own presidential run, then blames Kamala for trying to play the same game Obama and Clinton had to play. It’s probably how he honestly feels, but it just comes off so disingenuous.

  16. To be fair a lot of working class voters chose the billionaire fascist though.

    I love you Bernie, but the problem here is bigger than Kamala Harris’ campaign. To repeat, union voters went heavily for an actual billionaire.

    Inconveniently for Bernie, it turns out lots of blue collar Americans put racism, sexism, and homophobia/transphobia well ahead of economic self-interest or class solidarity. Even non-white ones.

  17. So instead they voted for Trump, who listens to billionaires over the working class?

  18. Reminder that he got less votes than Kamala in his own state. If this was the winning strategy, we should’ve seen him getting significantly more votes than he did.

  19. Yeah. And the voters went with the guy who’s MORE In bed with billionaires, but had the sense to LIE about it to get elected.

  20. I worked my butt off to try to get Harris elected.. but during that time I was consistently irked by the campaign’s seeming discomfort with the idea that anyone might accuse them of attempting to help the very poor of this country.

    The messaging was always about helping “working families” “get ahead” which to me always rang as slyly exclusionary language. It’s another example of the campaign trying to appeal directly towards core Conservative positions like disgust with the lazy poor on government assistance, and the implication that they kind of deserve their station.

  22. Big talk from the guy who’s never won a primary and was outperformed by Kamala in his own state.

  24. Talk about reductive.

    To Bernie this is his answer to everything.

    She lost for a variety of factors:

    1. Biden embarrassed the party after that debate

    2. Biden refusing to drop out early meant there was no primary. This alienated a lot of voters.

    3. Kamala was not allowed to separate herself from Biden. “No daylight kid”. And since he was an embarrassment she became an embarrassment.

    4. This country is sexist and racist.

    5. Kamala didn’t take any strong stances on any issues. This is partly due to the fact she inherited the run so late. Yes she should’ve been more focused on working class issues but she was barely focused on any issues. She hid from the public and didn’t have a clear platform.

  25. Nah Biden should have just dropped out. Most people I spoke didn’t feel comfortable at all with Harris, the Biden campaign did a good job of asking her seem snarky during the election.

    I went to a resort and spoke to a ton of black women and all them said “why would I vote for a women who has so much pride in locking up young men, for smoking a bit of pot.” They also had their heart set on Michelle but they all felt that their community back home around Atlanta, and some other cities didn’t really have any confidence with Harris.

    Also making her a border tsar was one of the worse things Biden did for her. I think she only came to the border twice, she should have came down a few more times and break away for Biden policy and said something about being firm on illegal crossing and setting up a more robust and fair refugee policy. If she did no one heard her.

    There were a lot of things that went wrong but the main issue she lost is she wasn’t a good candidate against Trump, I feel trump campaign did a better job at linking up and selling a kid to the average American, and the best way to have defeated that would have been Biden keeping his promise and being a one term President, but his pride or mental health wasn’t there. He did a lot of outstanding things for the country that I am grateful for but it will live in the shadow that he allowed trump to rise to power again.

    I only voted for Harris since i disliked Trump policy and what he stands for. But to blame the ultra rich for Harris defeat is an out of touch reality view. I know some people would argue it’s wasn’t a slaughter house but she lost all swing states and to me that’s a slaughter

  26. Eh Trump is obviously terrible but his supporters LOVE him. Kamala’s supporters tolerated her that’s the biggest thing

  27. Still trying to cover for the Bernie or die supporters of 2016 (esp PA, MI and WI) who refused to vote for Hillary in the face of the imminent threat of Trump. He”s 83 years and just reelected in 2024 in a state with a republican governor. The self assured hubris is rich. Please stay healthy so we don’t see a RBG redux.

  28. I like Bernie, but I also think he is part of the problem now. He isn’t wrong, but he has become something the right wing uses against the dems to cause internal divisions. Bernie should retire now. Has he actually interned any younger candidates to replace him?

  29. I blame it on our voters being more racist and sexist than he wants to admit.

  30. This is why Bernie won’t ever win anything, he simply does not understand what’s happening. He can only ever say like 5 things and can’t ever adjust his worldview to a changing climate.

    The Harris campaign DID say all of those things. Harris absolutely talked about affordable housing, particularly for younger people, she talked about healthcare reform and cracking down on corporate greed, she talked about plenty of things that are 100% relevant to working class people.

    Guess what though? Those same working class people went ahead and voted for the billionaire wannabe dictator anyway, and most didn’t do it for economic reasons, they did it for largely cultural reasons. Bernie is totally unequip to understand that there’s a large portion of the voting base that actually does enjoy Trump’s chaos and lack of regard for democracy.

  31. During her 2020 presidential campaign and as Vice President, Kamala Harris’s platform has focused on a range of progressive policy positions. Here are some of her key proposals and stances:
    Economy and Taxes:
    * Middle-Class Tax Cuts: She proposed tax cuts for working and middle-class families, including restoring and expanding the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit.
    * Taxing the Wealthy and Corporations: Harris advocated for increasing the corporate tax rate and raising taxes on the wealthy.
    * Affordable Housing: She proposed initiatives to address the housing shortage, including building affordable homes and rentals, and providing down-payment assistance for first-time homebuyers.
    * Debt Relief: She has supported efforts to erase medical debt for Americans.
    Healthcare:
    * **Strengthening the Affordable Care Act (ACA): Harris has been a proponent of strengthening and expanding the ACA.
    * Maternal Mortality: She emphasized addressing the maternal mortality crisis, particularly among Black women, and increasing investments in maternal healthcare.
    * Prescription Drug Costs: She supported measures to reduce prescription drug costs and allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. While she initially supported “Medicare for All,” she later softened her stance on a single-payer system.
    Criminal Justice and Social Justice:
    * Police Reform: Following the killing of George Floyd, Harris supported comprehensive police reforms, including banning chokeholds, requiring body cameras, and establishing national standards for use of force.
    * Ending Mass Incarceration: She proposed eliminating private prisons, abolishing mandatory minimum sentences, and promoting alternatives to incarceration.
    * Addressing Racial Disparities: Harris focused on combating racial profiling and expanding anti-bias training for law enforcement.
    * Reintegration Support: She proposed financial support for individuals returning from incarceration to help them reintegrate into society.
    * Federal Cannabis Legalization: Harris has publicly supported the full federal legalization of cannabis.
    Immigration:
    * Comprehensive Immigration Reform: She called for a comprehensive immigration reform package that includes a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
    * Humane Border Security: Her plan emphasized humanely securing the border, protecting asylum seekers, and expanding legal immigration channels.
    Environment and Climate Change:
    * Green New Deal: Harris supported the Green New Deal and called for aggressive action to combat climate change.
    * Green Energy Investment: Her plan included federal funding for renewable energy projects, incentives for electric vehicle adoption, and development of sustainable public transportation systems.
    * Environmental Justice: She emphasized addressing environmental racism, noting that low-income and minority communities are disproportionately affected by environmental hazards.
    Other Key Issues:
    * Abortion Rights: Harris has been a strong and vocal supporter of abortion rights, advocating for federal legislation to guarantee access nationwide.
    * Gun Control: Her platform includes a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, as well as a requirement for universal background checks.
    * Voting Rights: She has supported strengthening voting rights.

  33. Well that’s just nonsense. Bernie’s been repeating this dumb shit since the election and it’s just not true. I think it’s time for him to move on and let AOC have the spotlight

  34. I love Bernie, but I disagree with him here. People don’t vote based on the things politicians do for them anymore. If they did, we wouldn’t be in our current mess. Hell, look at the Teamsters. Biden bailed out their pensions shortly after taking office and they repaid Dems by refusing to endorse Harris.

    Kamala didn’t lose because she abandoned the working class or because she sided with billionaires. She lost because of a global backlash against incumbent power. From 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, to our elections this past November, every single democracy which held an election saw the incumbent party lose voter share. Didn’t matter the ideology or length of time in power. I fear Dems are over-analyzing Kamala’s loss and drawing the wrong conclusions.

  35. While I’d personally prefer if Democrats would prioritize working class matters, I don’t think Bernie’s argument holds a lot of weight here. Trump platformed very clearly on policies favoring his billionaire buddies and not giving any “””handouts””” to less privileged people, and that knowledge clearly didn’t motivate left-leaning people to vote accordingly.

  36. I swear people have no memory of last year.

    Kamala Harris had an extremely pro working class platform. But the working class wanted to attack immigrants, reduce taxes on the wealthy, and kill their own social safety net programs.

    The working class blamed the Biden admin for Covid-era inflation, despite the Biden admin actually steering the US to lower inflation than almost every developed country. And they blamed Biden for not stopping inflation despite the president (and really Congress) having no good way to reduce it.

    Arguably the working class just merrily accepting Trump’s policies despite the consistent inflation is indicative of the working class having no economic policy desires. The majority of the class just wanted to hurt brown people or was unwilling to get up and vote

  37. Biden won using the same strategy and fundraising. I wonder what two attributes (that Bernie also has) made that different?

  38. Blame the woman who was conveying a different message in a very, very short period of time rather than the racists that voted for this. Okay. Can’t understand why this guy was never elected to higher office…….

  39. There isn’t a single reason she lost but many.

    My guess the main reason is she wasn’t primaried.

    She did not get the full campaign time.

    She is a woman.

    She is a minority.

    She listened to billionaires.

  40. Yeah….. not because she is female, black, or married to a Jewish man!/SARCASM

  41. Getting really tired of the Bernie Sanders act. I used to support Bernie now the thought of that embarrasses me.

  42. You need billionaires to fund your elections. You think Trump would have won if Elon didnt dump a shit ton of money into the race at a crucial time when the RNC was close to insolvent?

  43. Harris had like 3 months to put together a campaign. I definitely don’t blame her personally and would still be willing to consider her after some actual primaries

  44. Stop the blame game. That’s what they want us to continue to do. That will turn us against each other. Time to change the narrative and FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!

  45. Bunch of Bernie coping. The last three Dems to run against Trump did harp on their policies that were much better for the working class. Then the working class called them socialist and voted instead for the dotard who said “durrrrrr you’ll have bigger paychecks on day one, cuz trust me.”

  46. Just like the 2022 midterms, where they made big gains because of abortion rights, then did nothing.

  47. I absolutely love Bernie. I voted for him, but are we really still blaming Kamela? Well we shouldnt. The American people who voted Trump are the only ones to blame.

    Kamela ran a great campaign. Lets not forget that every single person who voted had to see her name on the ticket next to Trumps, that alone should have been enough to gwt every persons vote. But she also ran a great campaign with plenty of news coverage, she talked about all the issues fairly and professionally and made good points for working people and average Americans while Trump just looked like a bafoon over and over like his first two times running.

Comments are closed.