Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Wednesday accused President Donald Trump of favoring “socialism for the very rich” ahead of his address in which he said his version of “democratic socialism” is one in which “economic rights are human rights.”
In an interview with the Nation, Sanders tried to paint Trump and his corporatist allies of favoring “corporate welfare” and opposing “socialism for working families.”
“Donald Trump himself, of course, is a major beneficiary of the massive amounts of corporate welfare. If you are the Trump family, you receive $885,000,000 worth of tax breaks and subsidies for your family’s housing empire that, among other things, was built on racial discrimination,” Sanders claimed to the left-wing outlet. “What Trump is about is socialism for the very rich. We are about socialism for working families. That’s the difference.”
In his speech at George Washington University in Washington DC, Sanders emphasized this frame, again accusing Trump and his oligarch friends of hating democratic socialism when “it benefits working people” and loving “corporate socialism” that enriches Trump and other billionaires.
Sanders told the New York Times that he anticipates his speech will “provoke” “a fierce debate” and is looking forward to going back and forth with Trump on the issue.
“I eagerly look forward to President Trump’s tweets,” Sanders reportedly said.