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Unknown A
Bernie Sanders, who is now 83 years old, has decided to do this series of town halls about oligarchy in swing districts across the country. And in particular, Bernie, unlike apparently any other Democrat, has this idea that, hey, you know, they're about to vote on this budget that is supposed to massively cut Medicaid and give a giant tax cut to the rich. And there is a very narrow margin that Republicans have in the House. So if you can flip, if you can put pressure on just a couple of swing district Republicans, then you can block them from being able to successfully make those cuts. So he has gone so far to Nebraska, where Don Bacon is the representative there in a relative swing district, and also did a town hall in Iowa City, Iowa, as well. Turnout has been insane. Reception for him has been insane.
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Unknown A
And we're about to show you a little bit of this. But in Iowa City, they actually had. He had to give three different speeches because they had two separate overflow crowds that he had to go and speak to. So let's take a look at a little bit of Bernie Sanders. Here you can see him walking in. This is Nebraska, being escorted in by the Omaha police. There you can see the crowd. You know, huge room, filled to the brim. There are pictures of people waiting there outside for them. I actually, back in 2018, went to some of these events that he did supporting various congressional candidates. This is now in Iowa City, Iowa. That was the original crowd in the auditorium. This is overflow crowd, I believe, number one, where he goes and speaks to them there as well, trying to motivate the crowd. And there was another overflow crowd as well, that he had to go.
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Unknown A
So just a huge reception here for Bernie, which I think speaks to the fact. I mean, first of all, he has, unlike most Democrats, he has an actual ideology, he has an actual vision. It's something that's consistent and coherent and makes sense. And he's got a strategy. And the liberal Democratic base has really been just kind of totally abandoned by their actual leaders, whether in the House or the Senate, who have been completely asleep at the switch, have not shown anything like the energy or the strategy of Bernie Sanders. This ties in also to just the level of energy that is starting to build in terms of. One of the early things we tracked was thousands of calls into senators and members of Congress. Now you're starting to see this huge response. Anytime any member of Congress does a town hall. You see these droves of people turning up who are very upset about what's going on with Trump and Elon in particular.
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Unknown A
And then you also see this energy and excitement around Bernie Sanders. I mean, in a sense, Sager, like, it's really a shame that he's so old at this point because this really is kind of his moment because he's been proven right on so many things in terms of his analysis of how you actually combat Trumpism and actually offer an agenda that would make sense to people.
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Unknown B
Yeah, I don't know. I mean, look, as people know, I think the only Democrat politician who I have the softest spot for is Bernie. I still love him, I really do. And so I appreciate he's not really a Democrat.
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Unknown A
So maybe.
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Unknown B
Yeah, fair enough. I don't know what it is. All those Bernie clips from the 90s, whenever he's just railing against corporate media and him and Noam Chomsky and all that, I just, I like he's the og. I can't help help but like it. But I guess my caution on all of this is always just. I wonder if we're looking a little too closely for the Tea Party comparison, just because so much of the Tea Party last time was not just organized or not was the organic movement, but it was the influx of billions of dollars from the Koch brothers and from a lot of the freedom Works and all of this. There was an architecture in Washington waiting for the Tea Party. They didn't know it, but they were waiting with all of the dollars in the world to organize. All the stuff doesn't really exist on the liberal side.
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Unknown B
Like if you think about what liberal or what the liberal like NGOs and all those other people are the most concerned about, it's like USAID funding transports. Like they're not ready for some oligarch conversation because they would have to pay taxes. So they're not ready to like get in on all of this. And this is kind of what I think the issue with the Bernie movement here will be, is that organic anger is great. It can you to a midterm and all that, but you need to be organized around a real political wedge and project. Give it to the Tea Party for what it is. They hated one thing Obama and they wanted what? Defund Obamacare? That was like their number one thing. I don't see yet anything other than stop Musk or you know, like kind of like performatively protest. And it just. I'm getting Occupy vibes off this as opposed to Tea Party, where I mean, let's be honest, if you look at the political effectiveness of those two things, Occupy basically didn't do anything, whereas the Tea Party, again, not a huge supporter of them or whatever, but they really did.
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Unknown B
They were able to take over the Republican Party. They were able to, you know, shut down the government if they wanted to basically kick out John Boehner. I mean, they had real scalps behind their back.
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Unknown A
True. And I think those points are well taken, especially in terms of the organization piece. Yeah, it's important because people want to pretend like the Tea Party was just an organic movement. It was mostly organic, but it's about.
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Unknown B
The big stuff on the top.
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Unknown A
Right. And there were people there, and there was. There's an architecture there to marshal that organic energy. And I mean, I. You know, I was running for Congress in 2010. I went to. My policy was I would go and speak to any group that invited me that was in my district. I went to a bunch of these Tea Party town halls. So I saw it very up close. And, you know, these people were not like paid operatives. They were genuinely motivated. Now, were they all partisan Republicans who were super activated? Yes, by and large, that's who they were. And, you know, by and large, that's what we're talking about here, too, are people who are already active partisan Democrats, but who are now activated in a way that they weren't previously. I will say, I think you're giving the Tea Party a little bit too much credit for being ideologically consistent, because ultimately, the energy of the Tea Party, and this is something Emily talks about, too, the energy of the Tea Party, which was just sort of like, we hate Obama.
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Unknown A
Right. And ends up being, oh, you know, we're for austerity, we're for smaller government, et cetera, ultimately really morphs into the Trump movement, which was not those things, you know, was just about overturning the apple cart. And, I mean, you can look at the debt and the deficit under the first Trump administration absolutely explodes. So I think it was a little bit more inchoate ideologically than maybe you're giving it credit for.
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Unknown B
No, you're absolutely right. What I'm talking about are the FreedomWorks. They're elected representatives. Does that make sense? So not necessarily the voters, but like, people like Jim Jordan, who to this day is what this guy is just like a big tech shill. I mean, on the Open Oversight Committee, he actually is a real libertarian. And a lot of the people they elected, unfortunately, in my opinion, believed a lot of their own bullshit whenever it came to tax, debt or whatever. Not the voters. The voters are very different.
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Unknown A
They're also not near. I mean, they have done a good job of flexing their power when they've had opportunities to do so. But they also now they bend the knee to Trump. It's Trump's party. And so those people are very much secondary. We could see the way that that all went down with the budget fight at the beginning of the year. And once Musk and Trump were like, this is our budget deal, they're like, yes, sir, no problem, we'll go along with it. And so in any case, also with regard to Occupy, it's not like Occupy just fizzled out and went nowhere. Occupy actively morphs into the Bernie Sanders movement. That's where that energy went. And some of the organizers from Occupy are actively involved in the early phases of recruiting Bernie Sanders into the 2016 campaign and being involved in the Bernie Sanders campaign.
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Unknown A
So, I mean, it did result in this large rebirth of a left wing movement that just did not really exist in America at that point. So were they able to take over the Democratic Party the way that Trump was able to take over the Republican Party? No, they were not able to succeed in that. But it didn't just fizzle out and go nowhere. It did create this large, significant movement. And I think what Bernie is trying to do and what there is an opening for right now and which you're seeing in the growth, like the channels that are growing, et cetera, online and the flight from msnbc, et cetera, is that you have liberals who are much more open to a Bernie style message than they were previously and who are deeply disgusted with the liberal torch carriers of the like, you know, traditional Democratic establishment.
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Unknown A
That is what is so different this time from last time. Where that goes, that's a total open question. But you have some 70% of the Democratic base like you people are not fighting, fighting against Trump hard enough. And again, that is much more like the numbers under during when the Tea Party was formed and they were disgusted with Republican establishment leadership and Republican establishment leadership was underwater even with the Republican base. You now have that dynamic on the Democratic side. So obviously there's no guarantees, but a lot of the ingredients are there a possibility is there that did not exist in the first Trump administration. And you even have people like Neera Tanden who of course, now that Bernie's a million years old and will never run for president again, it's safe for her to say, but is like lauding Bernie for going out and making his case. With regard to Olive.
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Unknown B
Yeah, I don't disagree with a lot of this. I guess it just comes back to effectiveness and what you're trying to accomplish. Because can we play the clip of the guy asking them to get arrested? Because that's important. Yeah, I think a lot of liberal activism is deeply performative and again, rooted in their, like, genuine desire to just recreate the 1960s, which, if you can go back and read all of our debates about whether protests and all of that is even effective or not. But let's play it just because that, to me, is the beating heart of liberalism right now.
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Unknown A
So this is. We have two clips put together here. The first one is the one Sagra's referring to, which is a Democratic representative. I think it's New York State, 22nd congressional district or something like that, who hosted a town hall, has this huge crowd and people very energized, and one gentleman stands up and this clip went kind of viral. And then there's also a clip from a Wisconsin Republican town hall where you see people there flooding in who are very unhappy with this individual and what he has to say. So let's play both of those.
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Unknown B
I'm so proud that my representative was on the front line right there. But I thought about Jimmy Carter and I thought about John Lewis, and I know what John Lewis would have done. He would have gotten arrested that day. Make them. Make them outlaw you. We will stand behind you. We will be there with you. I will get arrested with you.
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Unknown A
President Trump has issued a lot of executive orders. I think, by and large, this is moving very quickly compared to other administrations. And I think across the board, he's done some very good things. I think he's gotten rid of birthright citizenship.
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Unknown B
Illegal as hell. I think the reason I wanted to play that is, and I'm sure you'll disagree with this, is I just don't. I don't understand this, like, fetishization of you need to go and get arrested by standing in the door of the Department of Education, and it's like you're not doing anything. I mean, I understand it might feel good, it might look good, I guess, but it's one of those where there just seems to be this desire. They're like, we need to stand up against Elon. And that will definitely manifest in the midterms, no question about it. But it's like, to what end? And that's why, again, I respect Bernie, cuz Bernie has a plan. Like, you could say whatever else you want about the guy. The guy has some pretty consistent beliefs across the hell, like, the overwhelming arc of his life. But if you look at the Democratic Party today, and we talk a lot about this with the constituency and all of that.
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Unknown B
How can you be anti oligarchy when the vast majority of rich people in this country are just liberals? Like, are people who. And I'm talking about even the super rich. Like, yes, many billionaires supported Trump. The vast majority supported Kamala. Right? Look at the NGOs and the democratic architecture, the HR class, the DEI stuff. All of those people are just much more engaged in culture war as opposed to a Bernie plan. And they would, of course, love to see somebody stand in the DOE in the doors, but once they're in power and they're selling to people, I'm just not sure I see it in the same successful movement. Not saying it can't succeed in the midterms at all. I don't see the Bernie energy. Like, I was just On Midas Touches YouTube channel. Number one podcast in the country, by the way. It's all just like anti Trump shit posting mostly.
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Unknown B
It's just like DRUMPF Humiliates himself Yesterday. I'm like, okay, I mean, what are we doing here?
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Unknown A
Maybe he did, huh?
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Unknown B
Okay, I mean, fine.
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Unknown A
Look, I mean, it's just like patented for Shitlibs.
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Unknown B
They're just like, oh, DRUMP is so bad.
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Unknown A
No, but. But that's why Bernie being the. Really, he is the leader of the Democratic Party at this point in time, because no one else is filling the void. That's why that is so important. Because you're right. You have liberals who are well intentioned, who are discussed with their leadership. They're discussed with Joe Amico, run msnbc. They're discussed with the Washington Post, they're discussed with the New York Times. And they need some direction of how do you effectively marshal some sort of movement and in what kind of a direction? And so, yes, that's why it matters to have Bernie out there. Like, the problem is oligarchy. Here's the plan, here's the agenda. Here's how we're gonna block the cuts to Medicaid. Here's how we're gonna block the tax cuts to the rich. This is what we're, you know, this is what we're gonna go out and try to accomplish.
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Unknown A
Because there does need to be some marshaling and coherence added to this movement. There's no doubt about that. But you know, what I will say is, again, the opening is just different than it ever has been. And there's just no doubt about that. The. The fact Hakeem Jeffries, the liberal base, hates this guy. They hate him. They're disgusted with him. And so when you see that clip of this man who's standing up, who's like, great that you were the Department of Education, but next time, like get arrested, we'll have your back. We'll be there. I think it would be a mistake to like overanalyze, like, oh well, will that particular tactic be successful? I think it's more that they feel so abandoned by the fact that this party which made the case, Donald Trump is an authoritarian. Donald Trump is a fascist. Now he's in there and his party is going to CPAC and doing, you know, Sig Heil over and over again.
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Unknown A
He's saying, and out there making the case like Trump is the living embodiment of the Constitution. He's saying effectively, les tat, c'est moi, right? I am the law. I can't violate the law if I'm in the context of saving the country. Elon is consolidating power in this brazen, naked self dealing way. Like all the things they've warned about that the Democratic Party warned about, they're happening, they're here. And you've got a bunch of listless, know nothing leaders who are just sitting back like, oh, let him punch himself down. Don't swing at every pitch. They just want to see someone with some fight and some energy, that's all. And you know, so far the people who have really tried to provide that are, Bernie has the best plan and the best strategy that we've seen so far. AOC has been very aggressive in terms of getting out there and like meeting the moment in terms of here rhetoric.
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Unknown A
And I think that's really all they're looking for, is for people to show some fight. They know they're not magicians. They know they can't magically turn it back. They know that maybe getting arrested in front of the Department of Education isn't gonna like solve the problem overnight or whatever. They just wanna see some fight. And I think that there was a lot of that with the Tea Party as well.
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Unknown B
I agree. I just agree.
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Unknown A
There's a lot of that with Trump too, to be honest with you, where like, like they just love to see him take on the fight and be unafraid of it and own the libs. And like, that's kind of what the liberal base wants to see right now from their leaders and they're not getting from anyone, say basically like Bernie Sanders.
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Unknown B
See, I think that's an important point though, is that what does owning the libs get you? It's like, you know, it gets you that farmer guy who got his government contract shut off. And he's like, it's the government who's coming after me. So it's like, listen, guys, if you want your lib rage to be hijacked by rich people, which is basically what's happened throughout the culture war on left and right, like, go ahead, I guess. But, I mean.
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Unknown A
But again, that's why the Bernie piece matters so much, because Bernie is.
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Unknown B
Are we overstating it a little bit? I mean, the guy sold out 2,300 or had 2,300 people in Nebraska, like you and I sold out at a place with, like, 15, 1600 people. Like, it's not a lot of people. If 10,000 people show up, call me. All right.
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Unknown A
Have you been to Iowa City, Iowa? These are small places.
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Unknown B
Iowa City. Isn't Iowa City the place where they have. What's it called? Isn't the university there? Isn't it one of the most liberal counties there? So, again, let's not overstate the case. Like, Iowa's not going blue. Like, Nebraska's not going blue in terms of all of these places where it matters. Wisconsin, all that, I'm gonna pay much more attention to that town hall. Maybe that guy will lose. But, I mean, I just, again, like, there just seems to be, like, a lib wish casting happening here, which makes me very skeptical, because so much lib wish casting during the election turned out to be bullshit.
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Unknown A
But you acknowledge, like, there's probably gonna be a significant backlash in the midterm.
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Unknown B
Absolutely. But I think that would happen.
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Unknown A
I think Virginia is gonna be in a bloodbath this year. I think it could be a bloodbath because of how many federal government workers there are and how much this hits home for. And not just in the Northern Virginia suburbs, but, you know, throughout the state, including in Norfolk, including the town where I live, etc. And so, you know, the backlash is. It has emerged, right? It is here. The energy is there. You can see the trend and the trajectory it's on. And all I'm saying is, like, it is, I think, very inchoate. I think it is just a reaction. The same way the Tea Party was just really just a reaction against Obama and Democrats having a trifecta. This is a similar sort of parallel thing with the specific tension point being around Elon Musk basically appointing himself CEO, dictator, king of the entire government.
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Unknown A
But that's why it matters to have these. It had Paul Ryan and the Tea Party and all those people shaping what that movement ended up being about. And so who takes control of the movement. And right now, it's like Bernie and the left that are stepping up to the plate really matters for what the political goals end up being, how it's framed, and what ends up ultimately happening.
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Unknown B
I hate to say, you know who my money's on? Buttigieg. I think Pete. Pete's playing his cards. He's been on Twitter, he's been fighting. He's gonna win in Michigan. We all know it. I'm already wanting to blow my brains out. I can see him. Pete's tanned, he's rested, he's ready. It's unfortunate, but I. I think he could be the bridge between the NGOs and the Lib rage. But listen, maybe I'm wrong. Hey, if you like that video, hit the like button or leave a comment below. It really helps get the show to more people.
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Unknown A
And if you'd like to get the full show ad free and in your inbox every morning, you can sign up@breaking points.com.
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Unknown B
That'S right, get the full show. Help support the future of independent media@breakingpoints.com.