Bernie Sanders issued an epic attack against the GOP, accusing them of trying to win voters by diving Americans on social issues to get them to vote against their economic self interest.
Speaking briefly to reporters in Iowa on Sunday, Bernie Sanders slammed Republicans for using issues like same-sex marriage, abortion, and immigration to divide America.
“Why do you think working class people in America vote against their economic self interest?,” Sanders was asked, and in response he unleashed an epic slam of the GOP.
“I think the Republicans have done a brilliant job over the years — they’re very smart guys — in dividing people on a million different issues,” Sanders said.
“They divide people on gay marriage. They divide people on abortion. They divide people on immigration,” Sanders observed, adding that he sees his job across all states as working “to bring working people together around an agenda that works for their kids and works for their parents.”
“Raising the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour, having a trade policy that creates jobs in America, not in China, making sure all our of kids can get a college education regardless of their income, fighting for pay equity for women workers. We have an agenda that I believe can bring people together, and when we do that, we’re going to win this election very easily I think.”
One reporter had egged Sanders on, trying to get him to attack Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
Sanders wasn’t shy in his response to that attempt.
“Time after time, I’m being asked to criticize Hillary Clinton, that’s the sport that you guys like,” Sanders said. “The reason this campaign is doing well is because we’re talking about the issues that impact the American people.”
“The issue I want to be talking about is the collapse of the American middle class – you guys going to write about that? Is that an important issue? The need for millions of decent-paying jobs, the obscenity of the kind of income and wealth inequality that we have today. The reason our campaign is doing well is because people are responding to those issues, so I’m not going to get into the game of sitting around attacking Hillary Clinton.”
John Wright, writing at Towleroad, reports “Sanders’ comments were part of an epic response to reporters who’ve continued to try to get him to attack Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.”
“In other words,” he adds, “the media’s endless game of gotcha — just like the GOP’s opposition to same-sex marriage — is nothing more than a distraction.”
Watch this entire video of Sen. Sanders, just under six minutes, and worth every one:
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Image: Screenshot via Scott Galindez/YouTube
Hat tip: John Wright/Towleroad