US Senator Bernie Sanders has intensified his criticism of America’s political and economic system, warning that the United States is moving “rapidly toward oligarchy” and calling it a “pseudo-democracy” in which billionaires wield disproportionate power over governance.
At 83, Sanders is still drawing massive crowds to rallies, energising a new wave of opposition to US President Donald Trump and those backing him financially and politically.
As per CBS News, Sanders directly named Elon Musk and Donald Trump as figures driving what he views as a dangerous shift in American democracy. “You can thank Elon Musk and Trump for that,” he said, adding, “These guys, led by Musk… have now allowed billionaires essentially to own our political process.”
The senator blamed the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling for enabling this system, where “you get one vote, and Elon Musk can spend $270 million to help elect Trump.”
Sanders, an independent from Vermont who previously ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, remains outside the traditional party structure. He has long criticised both Republicans and Democrats for failing to represent working-class Americans. “Sixty percent of our people are living paycheck-to-paycheck. Media doesn’t talk about it. We don’t talk about it enough here in Congress,” he said.
In his interview with CBS, Sanders also took aim at major law firms allegedly reaching financial settlements with the Trump administration. “Absolute cowardice,” he said, accusing firms of selling their souls to maintain influence in Washington.
He dismissed any notion of Trump’s third-term talk as a joke. “They don’t believe in the Constitution. So yeah, I would take that seriously,” Sanders said, describing the situation as not just political, but a “moral and constitutional crisis.”
Reflecting on his own past, Sanders said his activism stems from growing up in a working-class Jewish family in Brooklyn. “We were never poor; my father worked all the time, just never had any money,” he said. The Holocaust’s lingering presence in his community, including survivors with camp tattoos, shaped his fight against racism and injustice.
Despite not being a Democrat, Sanders remains a prominent voice on the left. When asked what the Democratic Party needs to hear, he replied, “Why has the working class in this country largely turned away from them?” He warned the party must choose whether to chase big-money donors or stand with workers.
As for a potential 2028 presidential run, Sanders laughed off the idea. “Little bit old to be worrying about those things,” he said, but added that speaking to people across the country is what “keeps me going.”
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