Bernie Sanders blasts Trump's "hypocrisy" on promises to help working class
Sen. Bernie Sanders blasted President Trump on Friday for his "hypocrisy" in failing to help America's working class as he had promised to do on the campaign trail.
In an interview on "CBS This Morning," the Vermont senator said that in a time of massive income and wealth inequality, he doesn't understand why the president is proposing billions of dollars in tax breaks for the wealthy while cutting back on education, healthcare and programs for children and seniors.
"[It] is, to me, totally absurd and we've got to do everything we can to oppose that," said Sanders, who ran against Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
Sanders was referring to the administration's tax plan unveiled Wednesday. Asked what can be done to block it, Sanders said, "We can rally the American people to say when you had a president who campaigns on supposedly behalf of the working class of this country, that he's being totally hypocritical and dishonest. Giving tax breaks to billionaires is not standing up for the working class of this country."
He also said that the Democratic Party "has got to get its act together" and make it clear that it's on the side of the working class and "expose Trump's hypocrisy." Sanders, an independent, is not a member of the Democratic Party.
Like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, on Thursday, Sanders criticized former President Obama for accepting a $400,000 speaking fee for a Wall Street conference on healthcare in September.
"President Obama is a friend of mine. I think he as a president represented our country with integrity and intelligence, but I think at a time when people are so frustrated with the power of Wall Street and the big money interests, I think it is unfortunate that President Obama is doing this," he said.