Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Sunday laughed off criticisms that fellow Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) had for his national tour.
The rallies put on by Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) have drawn large crowds, including in traditionally red states with districts held by Republicans in Congress.
Sanders laughed when NBC News’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker brought up Slotkin’s advice to the Democratic Party that they stop using the word “oligarchy.”
“Geez, we had 36,000 people out in Los Angeles, 34,000 people in Colorado, we had 30,000 people in Folsom, California, which is kind of a rural area. I think the American people are not quite as dumb as Ms. Slotkin thinks they are. I think they understand very well that the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 90%,” Sanders said. “If we don’t address that issue, the American people will continue to turn their backs on democracy because they’re looking around them saying, ‘Does anybody understand what I am going through?’ And unfortunately, right now to a large degree neither party does.”
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However, Sanders shot down the implication from Welker that he and Ocasio-Cortez are trying to create a third party. Instead he claimed their goal is to “strengthen the American democracy.”
After President Donald Trump’s first speech to Congress in March, Slotkin delivered the Democratic response. The senator claimed she is working to improve the party and even implement some Republican strategies “from within.”