‘Saying Trump is dangerous is not enough’: 83-year-old Bernie Sanders on Biden, billionaires, and why the Democrats failed
The veteran senator and two-time Democratic presidential contender is crisscrossing the U.S. with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, working to revive the progressive movement.
Speaking candidly, he discusses why Republicans remain silent, why the Democratic Party keeps stumbling, and what led to Kamala Harris's 2024 defeat.
“What Trumpism represents is a recognition that America’s system is failing working-class people,” says Bernie Sanders, seated inside the Guardian’s London office. “Trump has exploited that frustration in a deceitful, hypocritical way. His so-called ‘solutions’ will only deepen the crisis.”
In person, Sanders’ 83 years seem less than they appear in photos—perhaps because of his energetic demeanor. His voice—gravelly and unmistakably Brooklyn—is disarmingly warm and firm. “I’ve been saying it for years: while the wealthiest are thriving, 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.”
Later that evening, he echoes the same message onstage in London, delivering it with even more urgency. “Sixty percent. Do you understand what living paycheck to paycheck really means?” It’s electrifying. His fierce honesty stands in contrast to the dull resignation of mainstream Democratic responses to Trump. Few politicians call out the class struggle. “I do,” he says plainly. “There’s a class war in America. And the rich are waging it.”
It’s hard not to think about what might have been. Sanders ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in both 2016 and 2020. In his first campaign, the idea that a little-known senator from Vermont could take on the party’s favorite, Hillary Clinton, felt almost miraculous. Asked if losing was his biggest political disappointment, he shrugs. “You’re too busy to dwell on it. You’re just working nonstop.”
He’s unapologetically critical of the Democratic Party. It lacks vision, he says. “They’re too content with maintaining the status quo—tweaking things around the edges. That’s not a message that resonates with workers.” While he’s careful not to attack Joe Biden or Kamala Harris personally, he’s clear-eyed about what happened. “In 2020, we won the popular vote in the first three primaries. Then the Democratic establishment circled the wagons, pressured other candidates to drop out, and unified behind Biden. That’s the reality we faced.”
In 2024, he was a vocal and active supporter of Kamala Harris. “I traveled across the country advocating for her. We urged her team to speak directly to working people. But her campaign, driven by consultants and wealthy backers, chose a different path—highlighting her work with Republicans, parading endorsements from billionaires. They believed that would win votes. I didn’t, and I said so. But I wasn’t heard.”
Sanders’ political journey began in 1981 when he was elected mayor of Burlington, Vermont. His older brother Larry, who lives in Oxfordshire, once painted a picture of their upbringing: modest means, political awareness, and admiration for FDR’s New Deal. Bernie often recalls how their father, Eli, a Polish immigrant, never stopped worrying about providing for the family. The memory of his relatives who were killed in the Holocaust remains a defining part of Sanders' worldview.
Today, he says, the Democrats face a dual problem. “People don’t trust them, and they don’t have a compelling vision for workers. Just saying ‘Trump is dangerous’ isn’t enough.” He’s adamant that the party must make bold commitments: taxing billionaires fairly, guaranteeing healthcare as a human right, building affordable housing, tackling climate change, and expanding access to education. “Do they say that? No.”
Sanders isn’t shy about labeling Trump’s agenda for what it is: a march toward authoritarianism. “We’ve never had presidents sue the media for bad coverage or threaten judges. Trump has normalized things that were unthinkable. Project 2025—people need to understand—that’s a roadmap to dictatorship.”
Project 2025, produced by the right-wing Heritage Foundation, outlines a dystopian second Trump term: dismantling federal agencies, attacking reproductive rights, rolling back climate action, and curbing LGBTQ+ freedoms. Sanders says the alarm over it was warranted but understated. Trump’s administration has since defied court rulings, fast-tracked deportations without due process, and weaponized obscure laws.
The Democrats’ credibility is quite low. They don’t have much of a message for working people
Asked who funds the Heritage Foundation, Sanders waves off the specifics. “It doesn’t matter. There’s no shortage of well-paid right-wing think tanks ready to push this country toward oligarchy and authoritarian rule.” His message is unmistakable: quit obsessing over names and start organizing.
What unsettles him most is how quickly elites have folded. “That wasn’t the case during Trump’s first term.” He points to incidents like Jeff Bezos reportedly silencing his editorial board over Kamala Harris, networks settling lawsuits with Trump, and elite law firms backing down under pressure. “Even some universities are caving. The fear of criticizing Trump is spreading.”
On other fronts, money drowns out dissent. He cites Gaza as one example where politicians, fearing retaliation from billionaire-backed Super PACs, hesitate to speak out. “There are Republicans who know giving tax cuts to billionaires while cutting Medicaid is wrong. But if they vote ‘no,’ they risk being ‘primaried’ with Musk’s millions funding their opponent. That’s the reality.”
Nowhere is the money machine more aggressive than in races affected by Israel policy. Groups like AIPAC have funneled tens of millions into races to unseat Democrats seen as insufficiently pro-Israel. Sanders is blunt: “Netanyahu no longer represents a democratic Israel. His government is dominated by far-right extremists committing atrocities against Palestinians in violation of international and U.S. law. And some just refuse to see it.” While he’s faced criticism for not calling the conflict genocide, Sanders has grown more vocal in recent months—measured, but unflinching.
Since March, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez have been hosting rallies nationwide. It’s not an official campaign, but a political call to action. And the turnout has surprised them, especially in conservative strongholds. “We’re seeing people show up in red states because they don’t want oligarchy, they don’t want authoritarianism, and they certainly don’t want tax breaks for the rich at their expense.”
Despite occasional differences—“my wife and I disagree sometimes, too!” he jokes—he praises Ocasio-Cortez as a sharp, principled ally. “She’s one of the most powerful communicators in politics today.”
He doesn’t envision a third party but wants to reshape the Democratic base from the bottom up. “We’re building a grassroots movement—especially among working-class and young people. Any new progressive candidates coming up in 2026 will owe a lot to the organizing we’re doing now.”
Sanders today remains the same as he is in his book It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism: clear in principle and unwavering in his demands—on healthcare, climate, inequality, and justice. Watching him fire up a crowd offers a glimpse of a different political reality, one grounded in hope and moral urgency. He keeps going, he says, because he meets “so many extraordinary people” fighting for change.
As he heads toward a photo shoot upstairs, his wife Jane O’Meara Sanders trails behind, chatting with a smile. Bernie, striding ahead, isn’t trying to prove vitality—he just moves like someone who believes the time for action was yesterday.
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