Bernie Sanders Says Trump Speech Tried to ‘Create Fear and Hatred’

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont responded to Donald Trump’s primetime address by saying the president is working to “create fear and hatred in our country.”

After Trump spoke from the Oval Office on border security Sanders said:

“Sadly, what President Trump is trying to do is create fear and hatred in our country. Instead of trying to bring us together as a people, he is trying to divide us up. And in the process, divert our attention from the real crises facing the working families of this nation.”

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Sanders’s comments came in a video message after Trump’s Tuesday night speech. The president in his address made many false claims, such as the U.S. faces a “growing humanitarian and security crisis” at the Mexican border which requires the construction of a southern border wall.

Trump’s speech was made as his partial government shutdown, finished its 18th day. The shutdown and the resulting “crisis” were created by Trump after he refused to sign a bill Congress had passed to fund the government because it didn’t include at least $5 billion for the wall.

In his response to Trump, Sanders made clear that the country has more serious crises, such as widening income inequality, massive student loan debt and devastating climate change.

Sanders also said Trump “lies all of the time,” including during his speech on Tuesday.

“It gives me no pleasure to tell you what most of you already know, and that is that President Trump lies all of the time,” Sanders said. “And in his remarks tonight and in recent weeks regarding immigration and the wall, he continues to lie.”

Sanders accused Trump of lying by still claiming that Mexico would pay for the wall, by saying that thousands of terrorists enter the U.S. from the southern border and by declaring that former presidents told him that they supported building a wall.

Sanders also called for “comprehensive immigration reform” rather than the construction of a wall.

“In terms of immigration in this country, what we need to do is not to waste billions of dollars on a wall, but to finally the address the need for comprehensive immigration reform, including improved border security,” he said.

Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.