While this might sound like a concession to Trump’s base, Sanders quickly pivoted to blasting the former president’s proposed mass deportations, claiming it would wreak havoc on the country.
“He wants to deport 20 million people who are in this country who are undocumented,” Sanders said. “Well, you do that, you destroy the entire country.” “Because I got news for you, Trump’s billionaire friends are not going to pick the crops in California that feed us.” “They’re not going to work in meatpacking houses,” he continued. “That’s what undocumented people are doing.”
Watch the interview below:
This kind of rhetoric underscores a deeper contradiction in the Democrat playbook — support stronger borders in theory, but slam enforcement when it counts. Sanders’ defense of illegal labor as essential to the economy also raises questions: should the U.S. economy depend on unlawful employment just to survive?
The interview took a turn when Sanders was asked about his own political plans. Clearly irritated, he brushed off the question with a response that sounded more like a retirement speech than a campaign teaser.
“Right now I’m Vermont’s senator,” he said. “That’s what I do.” “And I’m very happy to do it. I am 83 years of age. And I’m tired.”
Tired or not, Sanders isn’t slowing down completely. He’s currently barnstorming the country alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with their populist “Fight Oligarchy” tour — a cross-country effort to rally progressive support as the Democratic base grows increasingly restless ahead of the 2024 election.
The tour comes in response to tech billionaire Elon Musk’s controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, which seeks to slash federal spending by over a trillion dollars. Sanders and AOC are painting it as a hostile takeover by the wealthy elite.
“Over the course of the next few weeks I’ll be hitting the road to have real discussions across America on how we move forward to take on the Oligarchs and corporate interests who have so much power and influence in this country.”
But even this liberal crusade hasn’t escaped controversy. In an odd throwback to 2020, Sanders’ team sent out a warning to attendees, urging them to mask up and stay home if they felt sick — despite the pandemic being declared over years ago.
While Sanders may claim to be “tired,” his activism shows no signs of slowing down — and neither does the double standard of his policy positions. One moment he’s calling for secure borders, the next he’s defending the very system that thrives on illegal labor. In an era where the left is floundering for direction, Bernie Sanders seems stuck in the past — and dragging his party with him.
