Bernie Agrees: Democratic Party Is a ‘Threat to Democracy’

They really are at an impasse. Do they do the right thing for the good of their constituents or do they continue to line their pockets with corporate ~~bribes~~ donations?
- Response C: Both, spend 1 year pretending they care right before the election, then spend 4 year lining their pocket 👍
- I think the problem is that you need money and corporate support to win an election in america.

Andrew Schulz
You might not know the name. But I bet you recognize what Kendrick said about him:
Don't let no white comedian talk about no Black woman, that's law
I know propaganda work for them, and fuck whoever that's close to them
But Bernie's always went to where all the earballs are, he's just trying to get the message out.
And I think it's important to point out by "party" Bernie is talking about elected politicians in leadership positions, not the DNC.
Sanders echoed his woes, venting that even after losing the 2024 election, his colleagues still “won’t listen” to him about how to appeal to voters.
Also:
Singh interjected with another question: “But could we not also say, if there hasn’t been a fair primary for the Democrats since 2008, are they not also a threat to democracy?”
“Fair enough,” Sanders answered. “I’m not gonna argue with that.”
First off, the headline wasn't Bernie's words, he was just moving on from something a rightwing podcaster had said.
2008 wasn't a fair primary, Obama just won in spite of it. The DNC being biased against him not only in the primary but the general is why Obama didn't appoint a DNC chair, so the neoliberals maintained their death grip on the DNC till just a few months ago.
But Obama refusing to nominate a chair was probably his biggest mistake, one we're still paying for.
- Also important to note that Bernie defends voting for Democrats in this interview.
  “Because it’s easy to say,” said Sanders. “But ‘burning it down’ means children will not have food to eat. The schools will deteriorate. People will not have healthcare. I’m an elected official. I’ve got to represent the people. I can’t turn my back on them.”
  
  Like Nina Turner said...
  “It’s like saying to somebody, ‘You have a bowl of shit in front of you, and all you’ve got to do is eat half of it instead of the whole thing,’” about the choice between Biden and Trump. “It’s still shit.”
  
  Yeah, had that part in to begin with but figured it was already too long for people to read all of it.
  I'm not gonna watch the interview because I have more issues with Schulz than just what Kendrick was talking about.
  But this wasn't just twisting Bernie's words like normal, there's a mountain of difference between "I agree" and "I'm not going to argue that".
  Like, if trump got life imprisonment for killing Santa, I'm not gonna argue with it, but that's not the same as agreeing he did it.
- Obama’s biggest mistake was promising system wide change and only tinkering at the edges. His presidency was a failure because it continued with the neoliberal bullshit instead of responding to 2008 with forceful reforms.
  
  If Obama had seated a progressive or even nonbiased chair then it would have been Bernie 2016/2020, and a very good chance we stretched it to another progressive in 2024.
  Obama did a lot of things wrong, but just leaving Hillary's people in charge of the DNC snowballed into trump and everything else that's been fucked up the last decade.
  And there was zero besides spite. He thought without him the DNC would die, but he never tried to replace it with anything. He was just mad they were biased on the primary and didn't help him in the general.
  It was the first sign that everything else was bullshit. That he valued his ego more than doing his job.
- Can you explain the Obama not appointing a DNC chair part?
  
  When a Dem wins the general, they "nominate" a chair to the DNC, and the DNC could technically go against it, but the vote is largely performative.
  When a Republican wins, there's no nomination and they just vote.
  Obama didn't nominate anyone, and the entrenched neoliberals held on like they did in 2016.
  That's why it's so huge that when the DNC held a vote again, they went for the guy who doesn't show any bias and locked down a purple state into a state filled with some of our most progressive politicians. They could have went back to the neoliberals like they have for decades, but they didnt.
  The DNC learned their lesson, we're going to get a fair primary, which means the general will be a cakewalk
  Also why there's a huge push from mainstream media against the DNC, they're already trying to depress turnout in the Dem primary in 3 years, because they'd rather risk a Republican than a progressive.
  Don't fall for it

He isn't wrong. If they hadn't pushed a senile 81 year old incumbent leader upon us as their candidate, in a blatant attempt to parachute an unpopular vice president into power once the 25th Amendment had to inevitably be invoked, then we would never have had a second Trump term.
Biden should never have ran for a second term, and allowed time for the Democrats to field a decent candidate for the White House. The fact that Harris literally lost to somebody who tried to stir up an insurrection against Congress four years ago says it all.
- Harris didn't lose. Trump didn't win. They stole the election through every single means available. There is clear data that shows they tried it in 2020, and failed. They perfected it in 2024. "If I win you'll never need to vote again." "Elon knows sic. [everything] about the machines, he'll make sure we win."
  Voting won't save us now. Self defense and community defense are all we have left. The system has been stolen by the ultra rich, and they are gleefully enacting as much violence against us all as they want, because they "know" they don't have to listen to us anymore.
  https://sdvoice.info/trump-lost-vote-suppression-won-here-are-the-numbers/
  https://youtu.be/UgIay64Obcs
  https://youtu.be/t-yr-Mgkhm0
  https://electiontruthalliance.org/eta
  First and last links are the data. The middle links are for us stupid people that need to be told how to read the data in the last link.
- How do you complain about an old man in power while asking for Bernie? As a non American I don’t comprehend this
  
  I agree with him, but that doesn’t mean I think he should be president. While I really like the idea of him as president in theory, I do feel that he is too old and that there are too many risks associated with that. We should have age limits regardless of who’s running. But I think he’d make a great advisor to a president regardless—that way if he takes a turn for the worse it doesn’t put the country in any sort of jeopardy.
  
  He is the singular exception to all of our complaints about age, although we do still complain about his age. He gets a pass because he's been doing the work for decades.
  
  No one is asking for Bernie as president anymore-- he's clearly too old. But we like his speeches and party leadership.
  
  Bernie is a whole lot more compos mentis than Biden ever was.
  The right time to elect him would've been 2016...
  
  Because they don't want solutions, they want to complain.
  
  It’s arguing in bad faith
  They don’t have a legitimate reason for their candidate over a different one so they just repeat fox news talking points

Bernie has the greatest leverage in a potential third party, though with the system we have I think it'll just lead to the left losing again because of a voter split.
Assuming the elections will be fair with trump around, he effectively bypassed court already, he can adjust procedures to solidify his successor
- he or AOC could announce their third party run now and demand the democratic left get behind them in advance
  
  form a coalition with them or else.
- I've long wondered why the populist democrats haven't been pushing harder for ranked choice voting options, or proportional representation, or any other voting system than what we have. I'm no election expert, so I'm sure there's a reason, but it's disheartening to be trapped between two parties.
  
  The Democrats in charge benefit from the status quo. It's that simple. They would prefer to let Republicans win elections if the only other option is letting a pro worker candidate win.
  
  Because they'll lose power too. I live in blue Oregon and it was on the ballot in November, but both parties came out against it with nonsense about how popular candidates will lose, your votes will be stolen, etc, etc and it was resoundly defeated. All their rhetoric about helping the working class are blatant lies they tell you to get elected which is why we've been on a steady downward trend as a country for decades regardless of which of these "two" sides hold office.
  
  its a threat to them thats why, as it is also a threat to the republicans.
- The outcome would be no worse than the last election, so why not go for it anyway?
  Bernie is the best positioned to get serious traction in a 3rd party in relatively short order. It’s one of my greatest wishes that he utilize the influence he has now to do just that, because the Dems are absolutely a lost cause and they will never provide a way out of fascism.
  
  unfortunately hes like 80+years old right now, so are people willing to vote for someone that old.
- I don't think a 3rd party is necessary when anyone can run as an independent. Bernie has always shown the path forward. More folks just need to follow his example.
  
  just
  I love how you compressed an entire movement and the splitting of the progressive vote and another 4 years of GqPs as one word. What's very efficient.

I didn't read the article or listen to podcast. Just came to say 2 party system doesn't work. Thank you. Cheers.
- Worked pretty well for the capitalists and fascists.
- well hey used to it, several red states passed laws banning rank choice voting

The episode opened with Schulz introducing Sanders as having been “mocked, sidelined, and betrayed—and that’s just by his own party,”
Well that's the thing, the Democrats aren't "his own party". Sanders is totally OK with being an Independent right up until it comes time to run for President.
The DNC saw/see him as an outsider, not a Democrat, which is also a fair statement.
- That doesn't make his statement incorrect. They view him as an outsider because both the Democrats and Republicans are right wing parties and he isn't right wing.
  
  the dems are center right, and the republicans are far right.
  
  Calling all dems right wing is a stretch. There are more left candidates and members, see AOC. But yeah, the dems are mostly a centrist/right party now.

Nothing like clickbait headlines using a right-wing podcaster to put words in Bernie's mouth.
Oh, Return2Ozma? Who would've guessed.
- Who's the right wing podcaster?
  
  Who’s the right wing podcaster? If you think it’s Benny Boy, that’s not his website.
  Who the fuck is "Benny Boy"?
  Andrew Schulz is a conservative.

More Independents In Congress 2026

Once again Bernie is spitting facts. At this point the DNC is just a make a wish party for the elderly. They dont actually care about anything as long as it doesn't prevent them from getting more money. I sincerely hope the party fails and we get something better in it's place but knowing our luck these ass clowns will continue to fail upward.

He's absolutely right with this current Democratic party and it's shitty leadership.

Yeah a little too late Bernie. You'll tell us to vote for Gavin Newsom/Liz Cheney 2028 as well. The modern Dem party is an enrichment cult.
- And he'd be right to, if the alternative is MAGA.
  But this is the buf problem un US politics. Of course you should vote against Trump, and of course even the most questionable Democrat is preferable to Trump. But with only two options, that seems to have lead the Democrats to think they don't even have to try anymore. They keep drifting further to the right, instead of running a credible opposition.
  The US desperately needs more options, but the system is rigged to allow only two credible parties. To change, there are only two options: seize control of the Democratic Party, primary every lackluster candidate, until the DNC can't ignore that people demand better. Or start a new grassroots party, but it would have to be universally seen as the only way to get change, it needs to be massively funded to take on the machines of the other two parties, and convince the American voter that they really can win in this system that's rigged against the people.
  Primarying is certainly the more likely option, but you need to do it everywhere.
- With his recent moves you couldn't pay me to vote for Gavin

I'm shocked .world is keeping this one up.
- Because Sanders isn't a Real Progressive^TM and actually smart enough to acknowledges one can both be critical of the current Democratic party and leadership while accepting the reality in actual daily life in America and its citizens.
  However, Sanders did strongly disagree with one of his host’s points when Schulz expressed disappointment that, despite being sidelined by the establishment, Sanders continued to back Democratic nominees like Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Kamala Harris in 2024.
  
  Sanders got cheated and still worked for the winners. Sanders did more speeches for Clinton than he did for himself on the campaign tour. Sanders knew that the DNC was the only major party that had a major chance defeat Trump.

Bernie, a notorious independent.

isn't this Ben Shaprio newspaper?
- No. You are thinking of The Daily Wire.

Ew is this more ‘but both sides’ crap?
- Criticizing the DNC for their repeated, deliberate failings, or the consequences thereof, is not “both-siding”. The lesser evil doesn’t get a pass for being lesser, especially when it could be doing much, much more to combat the obvious greater evil, but chooses not to.
  
  This isn’t a problem with the dems.
  This is a problem with voters who fucked this up and then pathetically blame things that aren’t themselves. Dems can’t bail you out if you don’t vote them to fix it. So blaming them now is futile.
  Grow the fuck in and Own your fuck up.
- More of a "Republicans are running a fucking circus" and "Most Democrats seem to sit idly by as the clowns are running the circus".
  
  Dems are outnumbered in congress. You cant expect them to pass anything.
  Vote better. This entire fuck up is on voters. not on ‘dems’. Own your responsibility in this.

Bernie is red fash.
/s