Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Wednesday issued a statement acknowledging Donald Trump’s ability to speak to the working class and pledged to work with the President-elect to help families, but the former presidential candidate also said he would reject any “racist, sexist, xenophobic and anti-environment policies.”
“Donald Trump tapped into the anger of a declining middle class that is sick and tired of establishment economics, establishment politics and the establishment media,” Sanders said in a statement. “People are tired of working longer hours for lower wages, of seeing decent paying jobs go to China and other low-wage countries, of billionaires not paying any federal income taxes and of not being able to afford a college education for their kids – all while the very rich become much richer.”
“To the degree that Mr. Trump is serious about pursuing policies that improve the lives of working families in this country, I and other progressives are prepared to work with him. To the degree that he pursues racist, sexist, xenophobic and anti-environment policies, we will vigorously oppose him,” Sanders added.
Earlier on Wednesday, when asked for a comment on Trump’s shocking victory, an adviser to Sanders told CNN, “We have nothing polite to say right now.”
