Sen. Bernie Sanders Explains Why Trump Needs to Be Defeated in the 2024 Election

-Welcome back. We are here with Senator Bernie Sanders. You were with President Biden at his inauguration and you became a meme. We've talked about you and your gloves. -Yeah. -I heard you lost your gloves, but then I realized... it's not true. -Is not true. Fake news. -Fake news. But there's a reason we don't see the gloves. -My wife is hiding them somewhere. -Yeah. Is she worried that you are getting too involved in social media and becoming a meme? - -So she hid the gloves, and that's why we don't see the gloves. -It will be a legacy for the grandchildren. -Good.

Those gloves will be so worth it when the time comes. I know she has immense personal respect for President Biden. Obviously, an

election

is approaching. The Democratic voting coalition is very diverse. Many different types of people. Explain why you think people should vote for President Biden in November. -Well, for a first step, it is absolutely imperative that Donald Trump be

defeated

. And, let me know, what this

election

is about is not just politics. These are not just differences in views on healthcare, education or tax policy. You have a president, a former president, who doesn't really believe in democracy.

He is trying to undermine democracy. He is a pathological liar. And he is, very intensely, trying to divide our people. Look, this country faces enormous problems today and we all know what they are. We are talking about income and wealth inequality. We are talking about 60% of workers living paycheck to paycheck. We are talking about the existential threat of climate change. Huge problems facing this country. But instead of focusing on and offering solutions to those problems, what Trump is trying to do is make us hate each other because of where we were born, the color of our skin, or our sexual orientation, and we simply cannot let that happen. . .

And on top of all that, we have a guy in Trump who, during his presidency, gave huge tax breaks to the rich at a time when we have unprecedented income and wealth inequality. It's the last thing they need. This guy wants to kick tens of millions of people off the health insurance they have. He appointed anti-union members of his administration to make it difficult for workers to form unions. And I will tell you that all over this country women are fighting for the right to control their own bodies. He wants to take that away from us.

So that's Trump. And on the other hand, on Biden, I'm not going to sit here. You know, I ran against Biden, so I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I agree with everything Joe Biden is doing. Not me, a long time. But on the other hand, this is the first president in American history to picket with workers. And that's pretty impressive stuff. We have made some progress in reducing the cost of prescription drugs and taking on the pharmaceutical industry. The economy, as you have indicated, is doing really well. Extremely low unemployment. We are creating a lot of jobs, rebuilding the manufacturing industry in America.

So we are starting to move in the right direction. In my opinion, we have much, much more to do. But the choice in this election is very clear. If you don't believe in democracy, if you really want to turn your back on the millions of men and women who fought to defend democracy, I guess Trump is your candidate. But if you believe in what this country is supposed to value, it's that we all come together as one people, we believe in the rule of law, Biden is your candidate. -I want to ask, because I know that you have been a voice in the Senate about the current situation in the Middle East.

We are almost four months after the terrible and unforgivable acts of October 7. He has called Hamas a disgusting terrorist organization. Many hostages have not returned. And yet we also see an unspeakable loss of civilian life in Gaza. Do you have any optimism about a peaceful future for Israelis? -I hope in God it takes place. And as you just pointed out, Hamas began this war with its horrific and brutal terrorist attack against... killing 1,200 innocent Israelis, wounding more, and taking more than 200 people hostage. But I have to tell you that what Netanyahu and his right-wing government are doing right now to the people of Palestine... of Gaza is unspeakable and unspeakable.

I mean, we're looking at between 25 and 26,000 people who have already been killed, two-thirds of which are women and children, and 65,000 people who have been injured. We are seeing that 70% of the housing units in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. Can you believe it? 70%? We are seeing 1.8 million people driven from their homes. God knows where they are going. And right now, and this is... I hope everyone hears this. We are facing the possibility of hundreds of thousands of children dying of hunger. And we in the United States, through our financial support for Israel, are complicit in what is happening.

And I'll be damned if I'm going to give the Netanyahu government another penny to continue this war against the Palestinian people. -You see? I mean, it all seems so... impossible. I mean, I certainly don't know the solution that I would never claim, but do you see any hope of optimism that there is a solution? future for Palestinians and Israelis? -The history of the region is terrible. You know, we don't have time to get into it. It deals with the Holocaust, 6 million Jews. It involves the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes. But at the end of the day, the people, the Palestinian people, have the right to their own homeland.

So we are talking about a two-state solution. In my opinion, Hamas cannot be part of that equation. They are a jihadist terrorist group. There are people, Palestinians, who believe in democracy, Palestinians who do believe in improving the lives of the people there. We have to work with those people and create a long-term solution in which Israel has the security to which it is entitled and the Palestinians have a state of their own and the freedom to which they are entitled. -Well, we really appreciate you taking the time. It's a great pleasure. Thank you very much, Senator Sanders. -Thank you. -Senator Bernie Sanders, everyone. "It's Okay to Be Angry About Capitalism" is out in paperback on February 20. -We're back with Zosia Mamet.