Bernie Sanders Uses Protests to Demand Medicare for All, Transformation of Energy System

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Wednesday briefly addressed the protests sweeping the nation but used the opportunity to promote a few of his most sought after political agendas, from Medicare for All to “transforming our energy system.”

“As I speak, there are tens and tens of thousands of people coast to coast marching for racial justice, marching in horrified opposition to the police murder of George Floyd,” Sanders said, explaining that the protesters understand the need for “real police department reform, where police officers are held accountable for their actions and when found guilty are punished to the full extent of the law”:

People also realize, Sanders said, that we need criminal justice reform — something President Trump’s administration has addressed, making the First Step bill a reality.

Sanders quickly pivoted, touting a series of his own progressive agenda items seemingly unrelated to the protests at hand.

“But it’s not just police department reform. It’s not just criminal justice reform. As we speak right now, as a result of the pandemic and the economic collapse, some 20 percent of our people are unemployed,” Sanders said, calling for a federal jobs program.

There’s “enough work to be done rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, transforming our energy system, dealing with child care, dealing with education, dealing with health care,” Sanders said, adding that we need to “continue the fight for a Medicare for All, single-payer program.”

The former presidential hopeful claimed Trump is moving the country “more and more” in an “authoritarian direction” and claiming that the president wants to “disrupt, through the military, peaceful demonstrations.” The Vermont senator made no mention of the violence that has overwhelmed several of the protests.

Sanders has sharply criticized Trump’s response to the violent protests and falsely accused him of having protesters “viciously attacked” after they were cleared from Lafayette Park on Monday prior to his arrival to St. John’s Episcopal Church. U.S. Park Police in a statement indicated that they only acted after protesters began throwing objects, including bricks, frozen water bottles, and “caustic liquids.” The law enforcement agency also denied the reports of tear gas use.

“No tear gas was used by USPP officers or other assisting law enforcement partners to close the area at Lafayette Park,” the statement said.

Sanders on Tuesday warned that “those in power” want people to focus on the widespread looting and property damage, only as a means to “distract us from the terrible violence that engulfs the lives of working people every day.”