Bernie Sanders Montpelier speech takes repeated shots at President Trump

Michael Bielawski/TNR

BERNIE RALLY: Around a thousand people attended a Bernie Sanders rally in Montpelier on Saturday. The presidential candidate spent much of the speech attacking President Donald Trump.

MONTPELIER — About a thousand people attended a rally for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on the front lawn of the state capitol Saturday morning.

Although the Vermont senator stated early that his speech would not focus on President Donald Trump, there was no shortage of attacks at the current occupant of the White House.

“This is a pivotal moment in American history, and Donald Trump and his friends believe that they can win the coming election by dividing us up based on the color of our skin or where we were born or our sexual orientation or our religion,” he said. “They think getting us to hate each other is their path to victory.”

At another point in his speech, he accused the president of abusing his powers.

“We know that we have a president who has no understanding or respect for the Constitution of the United States and the separation of powers and is attempting to move every single day this country into an authoritarian form of government,” Sanders said.

Michael Bielawski/TNR

The view of the full crowd.

Some of his key talking points largely mirrored the platform of Democrats and Progressives at the Vermont Statehouse this year. For instance, Sanders called for a national $15 an hour minimum wage.

“It’s not a complicated issue. In the richest country in the world if you work 40 hours a week, you should not be living in poverty, and that is why together we will raise the national minimum wage to $15 an hour,” he said. “And by the way, when we talk about wages, we believe in equal pay for equal work.”

He especially attacked large corporations such as Walmart and Amazon for making enormous profits while paying low wages to workers and little or no federal taxes.

“This very same family that owns Walmart pays its workers wages that are so low that many of those employees are forced to go on government programs like Medicaid, food stamps, and public housing,” Sanders said. “In other words, working families, you here in Vermont and throughout this country, are paying extra taxes to subsidize the wealthiest family in this country.”

Another issue in which he is on the same page with his Montpelier counterparts is energy policy.

“And when we talk about corporate greed and corporate irresponsibility, there can be no greater culprit than the fossil fuel industry, an industry which lies to us every single day about the damage they are doing to the country and the planet,” he said.

“And today we say to Donald Trump and his friends in the fossil fuel industry that climate change is not a hoax but is an existential to our country and to the entire planet. And whether the fossil fuel industry likes it or not, we are going to transform our energy system away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energy,” he said.

And Sanders once again promoted the ambitious program known as Medicare for All, which some estimates put the cost at over $32 trillion dollars.

“Yes, we will pass a Medicare for All single-payer program,” he said. “The time is long overdue for the United States to end the international embarrassment of being the only major country on earth not to guarantee healthcare to all and we are gonna end that embarrassment.”

Michael Bielawski/TNR

Damian Renzello (on the left), of East Montpelier, was on a motorcycle with a Trump flag, striking conversation with passing Sanders supporters.

Not everyone who came to the event was there to support Sanders. Damian Renzello, of East Montpelier, was there on a motorcycle with a Trump flag, striking conversation with passing Sanders supporters.

“I think they are fighting the one person who is trying to fix things,” he said. “Our past presidents have been corrupt, they’ve done bad things, and the one person in the world that is trying to fix it is Trump. And everyone is bashing him for it, imagine that.”

Another person there not all in favor of Sanders was Murray Ngoima, from South Pomfret. She and a group of activists were there to protest Sanders’ support for new F-35 fighter jets to be stationed in Burlington, which she said can be modified to carry nuclear weapons.

“It’s part of the strategic nuclear bomber force, which means along with the B-52 and the B-2, those are the only three planes that are designated by the Department of Defense to be carrying nuclear weapons,” she said.

But most were there to support Sanders, such as Marit Young from Montpelier.

“Healthcare, education, minimum wage, all these things he was for them before they became popular,” she said. “Also the business about socialism, I don’t know why [people don’t embrace it], we’ve got streets being paved and police out on the highway, that’s a form of socialism when you get right down to it.”

Michael Bielawski is a reporter for True North Reports. Send him news tips at bielawski82@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @TrueNorthMikeB.

Image courtesy of Michael Bielawski/TNR

11 thoughts on “Bernie Sanders Montpelier speech takes repeated shots at President Trump

  1. So the do nothing ever for 40 years of grifting off the taxpayer, is spewing commie
    lies about a President that’s done more in 21/2 yrs with no support then most do in 8.
    I think the under 1k crowd says it all for the ol fossil lyre and thief. and they all weren’t there to support the ol fool, but protest him. And no burnee we don’t want to
    kill off our economy in the name of commie warmism…
    We also don’t want more gov healthcare that like your vote on fixing VA went to
    keeping union hacks over fixing the health care problem for veterans. I didn’t hear him say we’ll all have Cadillac Plans like his???or he would drop his caddie plan.
    Love the guys with bikes and Trump signs, should of had the Red MAGA hats to really bring on the butt hurt.

    • In furthering developments AOCrazio is apparently throwing her support behind the lying
      Squaw and not the burnster.. Another blow to the socialist commie who tried to mentor her.. apparently it’s commie hoes before commie bros in the world of Chiquita Kruschev/
      If they ran together it could have the trendy name SqawSkank redemption….
      HIghly rememberable to the low IQ’s that vote demontard.

  2. “This is a pivotal moment in American history, and Donald Trump and his friends believe that they can win the coming election by dividing us up based on the color of our skin or where we were born or our sexual orientation or our religion,” he (Bernie) said.

    Yawn. The magnitude of this charlatan’s lying is embarrassing. The real race hustler is Bernie himself, constantly creating racist strawmen he can “fight” against.

  3. Still amazes me how many of these sheep drink Bernie’s kool aid (hey it’s free, right?). Bern has several luxurious homes and makes millions, the guy has never worked a day in his life. Promising free stuff to the minions seems to be this buffoons platform.

  4. Hey, Bernie, We know you hate President Trump.So what else is new besides your socialist, unworkable blather?

  5. “We’ve got streets being paved and police out on the highway, that’s a form of socialism when you get right down to it.”

    Exactly my kind of socialism as well.

    The least government, is the lowest cost government, is the best government.

    Bernie and his Socialist cohorts in Cuba, Venezuela, Russia, China, Nicaragua, etc,, want the MOST GOVERNMENT.

    Their socialist/communist motto is everything of the government, by the government, for the government, i.e., handouts cradle to grave, whether you are willing to work or not.

    Follow the money and count the votes.

  6. Socialist Sanders, it looks like people are catching on to his rhetoric, yes he can slam Trump
    but lets put it in perspective.

    Sanders has been in politics for over forty years and hasn’t accomplished a thing, Trump has been
    in politics for just over two years has the economy on the rise, unemployment at all-time low
    wages are on the rise ……….. oh yeah Bernie you should hang your head in shame, you have no
    shame.

    what a buffoon …….he thinks the DNC, will give him the nod……. what a sucker !!

  7. Babbling Bernie is losing his touch. I guess his flock is starting to catch on to all his b/s as there was only 1,000 or so that showed. Doesn’t matter. He’s already made his millions off these fools.
    I find it amazing that the BFP reported 1500 and there was substantially less. It’s just like they reported only 300 or so pro gun people attended one of the gun rallies and there was over 1000. I guess it depends on what the issue is and which side you are on.

    • It’s amazing how biased our “news” is in Vermont, if people knew what was going on they would be, should be deeply concerned, propaganda really, almost all of it.

  8. The Burlington Free Press reported over 1,500 people attending the rally. This was NOT 1,500 people. You want a rally? Check out the thousands that attend Trump’s rallies. Thousands…..and thousands outside the stadiums.

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