Bernie Sanders, who has been attracting tens of thousands to his campaign speeches for the Democratic nomination, said Thursday that his message is also attracting Republicans.
"I thought from the beginning that we had a real message that would resonate with the American people and that is people are disgusted with the fact that wealth and income are going to the top one percent," the Vermont independent senator told
MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program.
"We're not dealing with climate change, and we have a campaign finances system [that is] pretty corrupt, allowing billionaires to buy elections."
But, he told the program, his campaign isn't about himself, but about transforming America, and not all voters on either side follow their own party's lines.
"Let's not dismiss the fact there's strong differences of opinion," he said. "Many Republicans are pro-life. I'm pro-choice. There's differences on guns, differences on gay marriage."
But at the same time, he pointed out, Republicans "have to send their kids to college," a prospect that is becoming prohibitively expensive for working class Americans.
"Working class Republicans are equally disgusted," said Sanders. "So I think the message that we are bringing forth that we have got to come together, to say that the wallet and corporate America cannot continue to dominate the political and equal life. We need an economy that works for families."
He admitted, though, that it will cost money to pay for the programs he is proposing.
"My policies will demand that the top one percent and the largest corporations in this country start paying their fair share of taxes," Sanders said.
For example, Sanders believes a trillion dollars should be invested into the nation's roads, water systems and other infrastructure, which would create up to 13 million jobs. He's also an advocate for raising the minimum wage over a period of several years.
"I believe we have to device our disastrous trade policies so corporate America invest in this country," he said. "Three out of four banks were bigger than we were when we bailed them out because they were too big to fail."
And he believes Republicans are "way, way out of reality" when it comes to climate change.
"The scientific community is virtually unanimous," Sanders insisted. "It's real and caused by human activity and already causing problems."
He admitted that there will be people who "will be hurt" by climate change legislation, and promised to protect them.
"It's not the fault of the coal miner that the product he's producing is causing climate change," said Sanders. "He should not be blamed for that."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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