“I voted against the war in Iraq. I had the same information as Hillary Clinton did, but I understood the enormous destabilization that would take place.” –Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders was interviewed by Diane Rehm on Wednesday. The full audio and transcript is available here. Early in the interview Rehm asked Sanders how he differs from Hillary Clinton. Here is his response:
REHM And where do you think you differ most from frontrunner Hillary Clinton?
SANDERS I was the first member of Congress to take people over the Canadian border to get lower cost prescription drugs and have taken on the pharmaceutical industry. That is my record and the voters will have to decide whether, in fact, Hillary Clinton’s record is one in which she has prepared to stand up to powerful special interests. An example, I happen to believe that our series of trade policies, from NAFTA, CAFTA to permanent normal trade relations with China have been a disaster, resulted in the loss of millions of decent paying jobs as corporations in this country shut down and moved to low wage countries.
SANDERS I am firmly opposed to the TTP, helping to lead the effort against it. Hillary Clinton has not yet voiced her opinion on it. I voted against the war in Iraq. I had the same information as Hillary Clinton did, but I understood the enormous destabilization that would take place. In fact, if you go to YouTube and look at a speech that I gave in opposition to that war, sadly enough, much of what I said turned out to be true. I am one of the leaders in the Congress in fighting to transform our energy system because I believe that climate change is the great planetary crisis that we face.
SANDERS I believe in what the scientists are telling us. I lead the effort against the Keystone Pipeline. Hillary Clinton has not yet voiced an opinion on that. I voted against the USA Patriot Act because while I understand that terrorism is serious and a real threat, I believe that we can protect the American people without undermining our constitutional rights or our privacy rights.
REHM And, of course, Hillary Clinton is doing a lot more listening than talking these days. Why do you think that is?
SANDERS Well, it’s, obviously good to listen and I’ve been out on the campaign trail and listening to many, many thousands of people who’ve come out to our meetings. But at the end of the day, you have to have an opinion on the basic issues facing America. We, as a nation, have got to address the reality that for 40 years, the great middle class of this country is disappearing and that today almost all new income and new wealth is going to the top 1 percent…
Sanders had a lot more to say about his views during the interview. The interview also received media coverage due to Diane Rehm asking a question based upon false rumors that Sanders has duel citizenship with Israel. This was corrected during the interview and on the her web site:
An Apology From Diane
On today’s show, I made a mistake. Rather than asking Senator and Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders whether he had dual U.S./Israeli citizenship, as I had read in a comment on Facebook, I stated it as fact.
He corrected me, saying he did not know where the question came from. I apologized immediately.
I want to apologize as well to all our listeners for having made an erroneous statement. I am sorry for the mistake. However, I am glad to play a role in putting this rumor to rest.
— Diane
In contrast to Sanders, Hillary Clinton has refused to grant media interviews and has rarely responded to questions from the press since announcing her candidacy.
WWII was scary for a child age 3-8 as I was. Sitting in the dark in my grandparents house with my parents and sisters and cousins and uncle knowing the reason for the "Blackout" meant that the sound of an airplane could mean a bomb might hit and kill some and injured others!
Being a German ancestry on my mother side as I grew older I wondered how people could believe in a person like Hitler and his promises to help the middle class as a socialist in the national socialists which became the Nazi party! Millennial's don't get it especially if they haven't read their history.
Now I can't believe what I hear and put I see an opportunist using the Democratic Party for his so-called independent progressive but really socialist ideas. The Koch Bros are backing Bernie I am so sure! Doesn't it figure… If they can get Bernie to take over the Democratic Party and be our candidate he will be wiped out in the national election and the Republicans will win and take away women's rights over their own bodies keep citizens United so they can infiltrate every state legislature as they have done in many states already. This dark money has put in representative Jim Jordan in the most liberal part of Ohio which never had a Republican let alone a right wing neo-con!
They are trying to put Bernie in for a purpose and it is to defeat Hillary the true democrat who really is both moderate and progressive. This is the only way we can defeat the Republicans and win back the White House and the Supreme Court! If Bernie is as good as so many think he should drop out because he can't win against the Republicans,
Mansfield Ohio was a city of about 40,000 people during the second world war But a city nonetheless that had blackouts at night… No electric lights no candles…really dark after the sirens shreaked through the streets! As our parents explained to my sisters and me: The whole city must be dark so that if a German plane as trying to bomb cities they won't seat us.
As I got a little older I wondered how could the German people which were my grandfathers people be so stupid as to believe that the national Socialist party the Nazis wanted wonderful things for the middle class… Things that never happened! They called for a New World order a revolution! Where have we heard that kind of rhetoric recently!?
Charlotte, The attempts by some Clinton supporters to confuse Sanders as a democratic socialist with the Nazis is rather disgusting. The two couldn’t be further apart
You can’t have two different political philosophies simultaneously. Clinton cannot be both a moderate and a progressive–and she is certainly no progressive.