“This is a collapse of the Democratic Party”: Ralph Nader on the roots of Trump's victory over Harris

AMY GOOD MAN: That is Democracy now!demokratienow.org, “War, Peace and the Presidency.” I am Amy Goodman, with Juan González.

As we continue to look at Donald Trump's victory over Kamala Harris and the Republicans' takeover of the Senate majority – we don't know anything about the House yet – we're joined by Ralph Nader, the longtime consumer advocate and business critic, well, formerly, four-time presidential candidate, author of numerous books, including most recently: Let's Begin the Revolution: Tools to Displace the Corporate State and Build a Country That Works for the People. Ralph Nader is the founder of the monthly newspaper the Citizens of Capitol Hill.

Ralph, thank you so much for joining us. Your reaction to Donald Trump's victory? It looks like he not only won the Electoral College, but will also win the popular vote this time, something he failed to do in the past two elections.

RALPH NADER: Well, Amy and Juan, there's going to be a lot to digest here. This is a collapse of the Democratic Party. They didn't get the voice they wanted. They were several million votes below their expectations, and that of course made the difference in an electoral college system in the swing states.

But the problem is much more serious. Essentially, we are now a country under a dictatorial corporate state. Trump is essentially a magnet and a trap for the Democrats. They spent tens of millions of dollars on anti-Trump advertising rather than put themselves to the test during the four years in which Trump deepened so many critical issues and positions during his term as president. So the problem is that there are so many variables to deal with here.

It all started, Amy, when the Democrats gave half the country to red states. This is devastating. Then in 1979 they began raising corporate funds, aiming for the same commercial values. This blurred their distinction between the New Deal-like Democrats and the corporate Democrats. Then they handed the election over to these corporate conflicted, profit-hungry consulting firms that the mass media apparently never wanted to investigate in this election campaign. And then they gave up on public media. Essentially, they left radio to the Rush Limbaughs and formed the Reagan Democrats. And then they never learn from their mistakes. They didn't learn from Hillary Clinton's mistakes in 2016. Then they don't fire anyone after losing state after state to the most horrible, worst Republican Party in history.

So what is the message they conveyed to the American people? The message is: Trump is terrible and you can't believe how bad the Republican Party is. It's too general a message, too simple. A large majority of people believe that companies have too much control over their lives. They didn't fill in the blanks and denied health care services. And they haven’t filled the living wage gaps. They have not filled in the gaps in combating corporate fraud. They have not filled in the gaps in reversing a tax system that undertaxes the very rich and large corporations. They haven't really turned around in trade. They didn't know how to counter Trump on immigration. He called the people who came in rapists, criminals, drug traffickers, etc. Instead of saying, “Well, they're fleeing oppressive countries supported by the US, dictators and oligarchs in Central and South America,” they didn't say that millions Americans trust immigrants to harvest their food, care for their children, care for the elderly, and provide essential services that no one in the U.S. wants to work in

So, as you know, there is such an indictment against this Democratic Party. And what's happened, of course, is that millions of people are basically saying, “We're tired of the throwaway lines.” We're tired of the government not giving us back the benefits of massive taxation. We're fed up – all we hear is the empire abroad. All we hear is that Democrats and Republicans in Congress are increasing military budgets and giving the generals more than they ask for, depleting public budgets that provide public services and public infrastructure in communities across the country and create essential jobs should. ”

Now we've tried to fix these Democrats. In 2022, 24 heads of state in the present have tried to tell them how to communicate and what to communicate to all people. And they didn't listen. The Democratic Party separated any kind of reaction – this is Nancy Pelosi, this is Chuck Schumer, whatever – with the civic community in Washington, DC, those who –

JUAN GONZALEZ: Ralph? Ralph, let me ask you. Now that the progressive movement is facing the return of Donald Trump, what do you think are the next steps in terms of resistance or reorganization that need to happen?

RALPH NADER: Well, it has to focus on Congress. The House of Representatives has not yet made a decision, but only Congress can stop the Trumpsters. It's not just Trump. Trump is a figurehead. Trump is a megaphone. It's the Trumpsters. It's the Heritage Foundation. The year is 2025. It is the takeover of departments dedicated to standing up for the people: the Environmental Protection Agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Bureau of Auto Safety, the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department. These will all be transformed into evil, vengeful or inactive governments. They want to destroy the public service and return it to the spoils system. We are facing great turbulence. You can say that yesterday's election really elected President Vance. Trump will not last. He will fall apart. And Vance is capable of becoming the next president.

So what needs to be done, Juan, is a massive focus on Congress, which is the primary constitutionally authorized lever to hold the executive branch accountable, through 2026. In contrast, the Democrats will have significantly fewer candidates for the Senate than the Republicans this year.

And they need to stop attacking people who want to challenge the Democratic Party. The party says to everyone on its side, “Do you know how bad the Republicans are? You can't go anywhere.” They spent a lot of money attacking the Green Party, the little Green Party, instead of listening to William Barber, Reverend William Barber, who said, “Look, there are 80 million people who will not vote.” Many of them are low-wage workers. If 15% of low-wage workers who don't vote went to the polls, the Democrats would have won.” They didn't listen to him. They haven't listened to all the citizen groups who know how to talk to people, not just liberal patients or liberal workers, but also conservative workers and conservative patients. Remember, the vast majority of this country wants to tax the undertaxed rich and corporations. They want to break up the big banks. And most importantly, they say in survey after survey that companies have too much control over their lives. Sherrod Brown sucked in his horns and lost. Bernie Sanders championed corporate power and won Vermont in a landslide. And Harris refused to campaign with Bernie Sanders, but she campaigned in several states with Liz Cheney of the Cheney crime family and the invasion of Iraq that killed over a million Iraqis.

So the mistakes were endless. And it basically meant that she turned away from the progressive and genuine populist electorate in this country. And Bernie, of course, supported Harris, but his positions were constantly rejected. He said: “Raise the living wage. Provide universal healthcare. Take action against corporate fraudsters. Increase Social Security benefits that have been frozen for over 50 years. And the rich need to be taxed.” She ignored all of that. Just throwaway lines.