Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:05 pm
Sen. Bernie Sanders is urging Americans to stand up and come together in a national movement to stop Donald Trump and the GOP’s undemocratic vision for America.
In response to the President-elect’s baseless claims of voter fraud, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said in a statement:
The threat to American democracy under Republican control is two-fold. First, they will likely move to go beyond the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision and end all campaign finance limitations. Right now, the Koch brothers and the billionaire class can spend as much as they want only on independent expenditures. The Republican leadership wants more. They want billionaires to be able to contribute directly to the candidate and, in essence, make the candidate a full-fledged employee of wealthy contributors.
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Secondly, the Republicans will likely move aggressively to expand their current voter suppression efforts. When Trump talks his disgraceful and unfounded nonsense about millions of people voting illegally, he is sending a very clear signal that the Republicans will move to make it harder for people of color, the elderly, immigrants, young people and poor people to participate in elections.
Our job: State by state and at the federal level, resist all efforts at voter suppression. We must do everything we can to make it easier for people to participate in the political process, not harder. States like California, Vermont and others have already moved effectively in that direction. Others must follow.
For many Republicans leaders, ‘democracy’ means billionaires buying elections and poor and working people being disenfranchised. Too many Americans have fought and died to defend American democracy. The Republican anti-democratic vision is not a future we will allow to happen.
Sanders has perfectly diagnosed what Trump intends to do as president. Under Donald Trump, the Voting Rights Act will cease to be enforced at all. Democracy will be looked at as an entitlement for the wealthy, and everyone who isn’t rich will be disenfranchised.
The Senator from Vermont was also correct that with Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell leading the Republican-controlled Congress, Citizens United may look like child’s play compared to what comes next. Republicans and their billionaire backers have been dreaming about getting rid of all campaign finance laws and they are going to get their chance once Trump takes office.
Popular organization at the local, state, and federal level is the best weapon that the majority will have at their disposal to fight back.
Sen. Sanders is calling for a national movement to protect our democracy. Without a Democratic president to act as our firewall, it is up to the American people to make sure that voting rights are protected for all.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
