Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) rebuked former Chicago mayor and likely 2028 presidential candidate Rahm Emanuel and establishment Democrats writ large on Sunday, saying “the people are sick and tired of the status quo” while casting progressive Democratic Senate candidates as the future of the Democratic Party.
While speaking with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation, Sanders said socialist candidates such as Abdul el Sayed in Michigan and Lt. Gov. Penny Flanagan in Minnesota represent “grassroots excitement and enthusiasm.” Sanders’ role as one of the Democratic Party’s most influential progressive figures has grown in significance after multiple candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America won congressional primaries over more establishment figures earlier this summer.
“All I know is the candidates we are supporting are standing up for the working class of this country at a time when so many people are discouraged, deeply discouraged,” Sanders said, “…about not only a rigged economy, but a corrupt campaign finance system in which billionaires are buying elections.”
Sanders cited “large rallies” at recent el Sayed and Flanagan campaign events and polling as evidence that voters want “real change.” El Sayed will face off against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), who was recently endorsed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), on Aug. 4 in a race that pits a socialist newcomer against the more established Stevens.
Emanuel, a more centrist Democrat, wrote an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday warning that “The ‘Bernie Bros’ Could Spoil Democrats’ Midterms.” In it, he argues “Republicans will make even moderate opponents answer for the radical views of DSA candidates,” and says the recent success of socialist candidates in deep-blue districts puts swing-state Democrats “at a distinct disadvantage.”
“For months the Democratic Party’s generic advantage widened while the nation focused on Mr. Trump and the Republican Congress,” Emanuel wrote. “Our lead has narrowed amid recent attention to DSA-led primaries. In November, a continued focus on defunding, decriminalizing, and decolonizing will highlight cultural issues that alienate many Democrats, not to mention large swaths of independents (who make up a record-high 45% of the electorate) and disenchanted Republicans.”
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When asked about the criticism on Sunday, Sanders said Emanuel is “dependent on billionaire campaign contributors who want to maintain the status quo.”
“There is no debate; there is a strong division within the Democratic Party,” Sanders said. “[Then] you have a progressive movement, which, by the way, what is getting these guys nervous is we are winning all over this country, it’s suddenly Mamdani in New York City, it’s in New Jersey, it’s in Ohio, in Colorado. People are sick and tired of the Rahm Emanuels and the Democratic establishment and the Republican establishment.”