For as much winning as the Democrats are enjoying from the last election cycle, they sure are having a lot of internal warfare in their party.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is the source of much of that, calling out leadership for failing to embrace the new far-left candidates in the party, like Zohran Mamdani.
Sanders even booted Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) from his press conference.
When Sanders was asked about the shutdown, he took the same approach as Democrats, saying the GOP won’t negotiate with them.
First, a continuing resolution (CR), generally, is not negotiated. It’s a basic bill to fund the government. But Sanders stated, “They have to negotiate with Democrats. This is the first time — I don’t know that people understand it — the first time in modern history where Republicans are not sitting down and negotiating with the Democrats to get the 60 votes. That’s what the 60 votes is supposed to do. They’re not doing it. That’s the reason for the shutdown.”
But the problem is that early on, the GOP offered solutions, but Democrats turned them all away.
Democrats did not negotiate for prior CRs, contrary to what Sanders is claiming.
Sanders is pushing back against Trump’s wish to break the filibuster, but that goes against his own wishes when he wanted to see Democrats push through legislation.
Sanders wanted the filibuster broken for abortion and voting rights, but now he is taking the opposite side of the coin.
He stated, “Well, I think, right now, we should maintain the filibuster. And I think that’s Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune’s (R-SD) position and the position of a number of Republicans.”
For the record, I think the filibuster needs to remain in place because it is the only thing that stops the majority party from ramming through partisan legislation.
The funniest thing I have ever seen was Sanders gloating over the Mamdani win and taking the podium away from Schumer during his press conference. What made it even better was the lecture afterward.
Sanders stated, "Well, the party leadership did not support [mayoral candidate Zohran] Mamdani in New York.
"Party leadership is not supporting [Senate hopeful Graham] Platner in Maine. And I think he's going to win… I think there is a growing understanding that leadership, and defending the status quo and the inequalities that exist in America, is not where the American people are."
Two or three races in deep blue areas are not the voice of America, Mr. Sanders, and that is why party leadership is not backing these candidates. We are in a really dangerous place, however, because this socialist movement is really starting to gain traction, and it has to be exposed. And that needs to happen very soon. This is not a movement that can be permitted to gain grip, or we are going to have a government that crushes us.
