Senator Bernie Sanders, who has recently been attracting significant crowds nationwide in his criticism of the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s DOGE initiatives, spoke with national correspondent Robert Costa for this Sunday’s “CBS News Sunday Morning.”
In this preview segment, Senator Sanders, an independent from Vermont who previously campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination in both 2016 and 2020, labels the United States a “pseudo-democracy” based on President Trump’s governance and his views on how the affluent have gained influence within both major political parties.
Transcript below:
BERNIE SANDERS: One of the other issues I raise about oligarchy, Bob, is not just about extreme income and wealth disparity. It’s also not only the influence of the billionaire class. These individuals, spearheaded by Musk, have—thanks to the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court ruling—effectively enabled billionaires to control our political landscape. Thus, when we assert that America is a democracy, it might be more accurate to label it a pseudo-democracy. And it’s not solely Musk and the Republicans involved; there are also billionaires in the Democratic Party.
ROBERT COSTA: That’s quite a statement to make as a U.S. senator, calling it a pseudo-democracy.
BERNIE SANDERS: Well, consider this –
ROBERT COSTA: Not, not a complete democracy?
BERNIE SANDERS: You get one vote, but Elon Musk can spend $270 million to help elect Trump. Does that seem like a democracy to you?
For more insights from Costa’s interview with Sen. Sanders, catch “CBS News Sunday Morning” on Sunday, April 6, at 9:00 a.m. ET, available to stream on Paramount+.
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