Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said that the Democratic Party needs to understand that they need a clear message to voters and that "resistance" to President Donald Trump "isn't good enough."
Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, made the remarks in an interview with HuffPost published Tuesday.
"The American people, I think, not only want resistance to Trump, but I think they want what the Democratic Party in the last many years has not given them, and that is an agenda that speaks to the needs of the working class, because it's not good enough," Sanders told the outlet following a "Fighting Oligarchy" rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Friday.
Sanders added that "the majority of American people understand" that Trump "is a terrible guy," a common cry of Democrats. Voters need more, he said.
"What's your alternative? Why did Trump get elected? What do you have to say to a worker today who's making 14 bucks an hour, who can't afford healthcare? Tell me what you have to say. What do you have to say to kids who would like to go to college, who can't afford to go to college?" Sanders told HuffPost.
The Harrisburg rally was the 12th stop on a tour that Sanders started in February with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
The pair, noted climate change activists and proponents of the Green New Deal, have come under derision from Republicans for flying on private jets to their events. A Federal Election Commission report last month found that Sanders' main campaign committee, Friends of Bernie Sanders, had spent $221,723 to charter private jets during the first quarter.
Gerard Kassar, chair of the New York Conservative Party, said Ocasio-Cortez was showing how much she's "out-of-touch" with her principles.
"It's absolutely rich in hypocrisy," he said. "Hypocrisy is the operative word."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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