Colbert Grills Bernie Sanders on Failed Candidates He Endorsed: Maybe There’s a ‘Taint’ to Socialism
On Tuesday night, Stephen Colbert confronted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) about his self-identification as a Democratic Socialist.
He began the conversation by noting Sanders’ alliance with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who have hit the campaign trail together on behalf of other candidates and asked him what it means to be a Democratic Socialist.
“Well, I think it means, among other things, that if you work 40 hours a week in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, you should be earning a living wage, 15 bucks an hour,” Sanders told Colbert. “It means that we end the international disgrace of the United States being the only major country on Earth not to guarantee health care to all people as a right while we end up spending twice as much per capita on health care as any other major nation. It means that we understand that the future of this country are our young people, and that it is insane that hundreds of thousands of bright young kids cannot afford to go to college because of the income of their families, and many others are leaving school deeply in debt, and we’re going to make public colleges and universities tuition free. And it means that its global citizens, people understand we have a moral obligation to leave a healthy planet to our children and grandchildren. We’re gonna stand up to Trump, and we’re going to transform our energy system in this country away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency, and sustainable energys. That’s what it means.”
Colbert acknowledged how many Democrats have been “socialism curious” without calling themselves socialists.
“Why do you need to call yourself ‘socialist’? Because that has such– that’s freighted with so much negativity in the United States,” Colbert said to the senator. “I’m just saying that, like, people are very excited about Ocasio-Cortez… But the people she campaigned for did not win their primaries. Only half the people you have campaigned for have won their primaries so far. So maybe there’s a little, there’s a little taint to socialism that turns people off.”
“I don’t really think so,” Sanders responded. “I think the real issue is that the ideas we have been talking about, almost without exception, Stephen, are now ideas that are mainstream ideas that are supported by the vast majority of American people. And I think, also, people in their gut understand that we’re living in a really strange moment in American history…we have an out-of-control capitalism, where the greed of the people on top is really unbelievable. I mean, right now in America, you’ve got three people who own more wealth than the bottom 50% of the American people.”
Watch the clip above, via CBS.
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