Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders agreed with comedian Akaash Singh during a podcast on Monday that the Democratic Party is “a threat to democracy” based on its presidential primary process.
Sanders ran for president in 2016 and 2020, with Americans including President Donald Trump alleging the Democratic Party rigged both primaries against him. On Singh’s podcast “Flagrant,” the comedian asserted Democrats have not held “a fair primary” since 2008, prompting Sanders to share the blowback he experienced.
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“Could we not also say if — ostensibly, there hasn’t been a fair primary for the Democrats since 2008,” Singh said. “Are they not also a threat to democracy?”
Sanders immediately expressed agreement, saying the party’s unfairness is the reason he is proud to be an independent rather than a Democrat.
“Yes. Fair enough. That is — yeah, I’m not going to argue with that point. And that’s why I’m proudly an independent,” the senator said. “What we’re trying to do now … the hatred that we felt in 2016, 2020, from the Democratic establishment … We would do rallies and we had thousands of people — often young people, people of color coming out, working-class people coming out. They were great, full of energy. And then we’d go to Democratic Party events and there’d be a few hundred people, mostly older, whiter, wealthier.”
“Then you saw the clash. And the establishment did not want to open the door. They hated the idea for all these people whose hands were a little bit dirty, who didn’t have PhDs or weren’t wealthy — imagine walking in: ‘It’s my party, man. You ain’t getting in. We will fight you in the most ruthless ways that we can.’ And that’s the struggle,” he continued. “Are they gonna open the door, or are they prepared to lose elections, literally, and … go down with the Titanic?”
During the 2016 presidential election, Wikileaks released a number of emails from Democratic National Committee (DNC) officials conspiring to push an anti-Sanders narrative in the late stages of his primary campaign.
Moreover, “#RiggedPrimary” trended nationwide on Twitter following former President Joe Biden winning additional states and taking the lead in the projected delegate count on Super Tuesday 2020. Biden had benefited from endorsements from the “moderate” lane of the Democratic Party, including Beto O’Rourke, Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris secured enough support from Democratic delegates to become the party’s presumptive nominee in July, despite garnering virtually no primary voter approval. Left-wing voters and former President Bill Clinton adviser Doug Schoen asserted at the time that they were dissatisfied with the process.
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