Bernie Sanders criticizes the Democratic Party after Kamala Harris' defeat

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders issued a scathing statement on what he called the Democratic Party's “disastrous” election campaign after Vice President Kamala Harris lost the presidential election to former President Donald Trump.

The independent, who works with Democrats, said it “should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party that has failed the working class would find that the working class has failed them.”

“First it was the white working class, and now it’s Latino and black workers too,” Sanders continued in his statement. “While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right.”

The longtime progressive advocate, who ran for president in 2016 and 2020, reflected on how Americans continue to suffer from economic instability, from income and wealth inequality to the lack of guaranteed paid family and medical leave.

Sanders also criticized continued spending on military aid to Israel.

“Today, despite strong opposition from the majority of Americans, we continue to spend billions to finance the extremist Netanyahu government’s all-out war against the Palestinian people, which has led to the terrible humanitarian catastrophe of mass malnutrition and the starvation of thousands of children,” said Sanders said.

Sanders, who won re-election to a fourth six-year term in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, expressed doubts about the party's ability to learn its lesson.

“Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn real lessons from this disastrous campaign? Will they understand the pain and political alienation experienced by tens of millions of Americans? Do you have any ideas, how?” “We can take on the increasingly powerful oligarchy that has so much economic and political power,” Sanders said.

Sanders said that “very serious policy discussions” about the path forward are now in order for “those of us who care about grassroots democracy and economic justice,” before ending his statement with “Stay tuned.”

Harris conceded the choice on Wednesday in a speech at her alma mater, Howard University in Washington, DC

“While I admit this election, I do not admit the struggle that fueled this campaign,” she said. “The fight for freedom, for opportunity, for justice and the dignity of all people – a fight for the ideals at the heart of our nation – the ideals that reflect America at its best.”

Harris' concession speech came after Trump was projected to win the swing states of Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.