Bernie Sanders says voters who are right-wing ‘homophobes, xenophobes’ and ‘racists’ will never be won over by Democrats
- Sen. Bernie Sanders said some right-wing Americans who are racist and homophobic will never be won over.
- Sanders added that many working-class voters may be swayed to vote Democrat over economic policies.
- When Sanders ran for president in 2020, he made efforts to court Trump voters.
Sen. Bernie Sanders said extreme right-wing voters who are racist, sexist, and homophobic will never be won over.
During an interview with host of NBC’s “Meet the Press” Chuck Todd, Sanders spoke about appealing to Trump voters.
“During 2016 and in 2020, you made a big deal about wanting to court Trump voters. I’m curious if your perspective on this now in an era where a majority of Republican voters think the 2020 election was stolen and that Joe Biden is somehow an illegitimate president. Are these voters still worth courting in your mind?” Todd asked Sanders.
“There are some extreme right-wing voters who are racists, who are sexists, who are homophobes, xenophobes. No, I don’t think you are ever going to get them,” Sanders responded.
He continued: “But I also think there are millions of people in this country, working-class people, who look at Washington, and they say, ‘You know what, I’m falling further and further behind. I can’t afford healthcare. I can’t afford to send my kids to college. I can’t afford the outrageous cost of prescription drugs. Who is listening to me?'”
—Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) October 16, 2022
Sanders added that one way to win over undecided voters is to address corporate greed.
“I think what we need is a Democratic party that has the guts to stand up to them and say, ‘Yeah, we’re going to take on the greed of the insurance companies and the drug companies and Wall Street.’ And I think if we do that, some of those people – I’m not saying all – will say, ‘You know what, I’m gonna stand with the Democratic party because on these economic issues, they’re far preferable to right-wing Republicans,'” Sanders said on NBC.