In a scathing interview on Sunday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) condemned President Donald Trump’s meeting chastising Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy and doubled down on referring to Trump’s administration as an oligarchy.
“Zelenskyy is leading a country, trying to defend democracy against an authoritarian dictator, Putin, who invaded his country. I think millions of Americans are embarrassed, are ashamed, that you have a president of the United States who says that Ukraine started the war, that Zelenskyy is a dictator. He’s got it exactly backwards,” Sanders told NBC News’ Kristen Welker on “Meet The Press.” He also said it was a “horrific suggestion” for Republicans to call for Zelenskyy’s resignation.
“The people of Ukraine have lost tens of thousands of soldiers. Their cities are being bombed as we speak. And our job is to defend the 250-year tradition that we have of being the democratic leader of the world, not turn our backs on a struggling country that is trying to do the right thing,” Sanders added.
On Friday, Trump, Vice President JD Vance and a member of the right-wing media berated Zelenskyy during his Oval Office visit in which they were due to talk about a mineral rights deal following aid that America gave to Ukraine when Russian dictator Vladimir Putin launched a full-fledged invasion of the country beginning in February 2022.
(It’s worth noting that Trump baselessly called Zelenskyy a dictator last month. However, ironically, Trump has repeatedly praised Putin and other well-known dictators.)
Video of the meeting, which did not result in an agreement, prompted widespread criticism of Trump and Vance’s handling of the situation.
Echoing his previous claims warning Americans of the dangers of Trump’s administration, which he calls an oligarchy, Sanders on Sunday also took aim at the administration for prioritizing the interests of the wealthy rather than Americans as a whole.
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He then offered advice to Democrats, who he claimed “have been playing dead for too many years.” (Political strategist James Carville recommended that Democrats “play dead” during Trump’s administration to make Americans miss them, but Sanders had a differing opinion.)
“I think you stand up for the working class in this country and make the point that right now the Trump administration is clearly an administration designed to represent the interest of the Musks of the world,” Sanders said. “Thirteen of the people that he nominated to head agencies are billionaires.”
“What we have right now in Washington, let me be very clear, is a government of the billionaire class, by the billionaire class, and for the billionaire class. And,” he added, “their greed is uncontrollable: more tax breaks for billionaires, cuts to programs for the elderly, the children, and the poor. We’ve got to fight back.”