Bernie Sanders Claims African-Americans Voting Against Him Is A Corporate Establishment Conspiracy

Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:14 pm

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) refuses to acknowledge that African-Americans are rejecting him and instead blames a corporate establishment conspiracy.

Transcript via ABC’s This Week:

STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Sanders, thank you for joining us. Boy, what a difference a week makes. When you joined us last Sunday, you were leading in delegates, look poised for a big lead coming out of Super Tuesday. Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, Michael Bloomberg all still in the race. How surprised were you by Super Tuesday, and how do you explain it?

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, one of the things that I was kind of not surprised by is the power of establishment to force Amy Klobuchar, who had worked so hard, Pete Buttigieg, who, you know, really worked extremely hard as well, out of the race.

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What was very clear from the media narrative and what the establishment wanted was to make sure that people coalesced around Biden and try to defeat me. So that’s not surprising.

We are taking on, George, as I think everybody knows, the establishment. We’re taking on the corporate establishment. We’re taking on the political establishment. And what you are seeing now just in the last few weeks is Wall Street, the healthcare industry, the billionaire class putting a lot of money into Joe’s campaign.

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It wasn’t a corporate establishment conspiracy that forced the other Democrats out of the race. It was the overwhelming support of African-American voters for Biden. The former vice president piled up overwhelming support with African-American voters in South Carolina, and that pushed Buttigieg and Klobuchar out of the contest. Bloomberg’s inability to win on Super Tuesday with African-American voters pushed him out of the race. On Super Tuesday, late-deciding voters went 47%-18% for Joe Biden.

There is no establishment conspiracy against Sanders because Bernie Sanders co-wrote the Democratic primary rules. Sen. Sanders is complaining about African-American voters rejecting him, and instead of doing a better job with these voters, he is acting like Donald Trump by claiming that the establishment is out to get him.

If the campaign of Sen. Sanders doesn’t turn it around on Tuesday, one of the big reasons why will be the candidate’s embrace of conspiracies, and refusal to see his own campaign’s weaknesses.

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Jason Easley

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