Bernie Sanders says Democrats should have the ‘guts’ to court some Trump voters

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday said Democrats should have the “guts” to court some supporters of former President Trump.

A number of far-right extremists are likely unreachable by Democrats, Sanders acknowledged, but working class Americans, backing Trump because of their frustration with the American economy, could be pulled across the aisle.

“What we need is a Democratic party that has the guts to stand up to them 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 going to stand with the Democratic Party because on these economic issues, they’re far preferable to right wing Republicans,” Sanders said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The independent senator, who ran for president as a Democrat in 2016, knocked Republicans’ economic platform and argued that Democrats’ positions likely align better with the concerns of the everyday American.

“Look, I think there are some extreme right-wing voters who are racists, who are sexist, who are homophobes, xenophobes… and I don’t think you’re going to ever get them,” Sanders said.

“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 health care. 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?”

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