Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said the reelection of former President Trump would be the “end of democracy” in an interview released Saturday by The Guardian.

“It will be the end of democracy, functional democracy,” Sanders said in the interview.

The Vermont senator also said in the interview that he thinks that another round of Trump as the president will be a lot more extreme than the first.

“He’s made that clear,” Sanders said. “There’s a lot of personal bitterness, he’s a bitter man, having gone through four indictments, humiliated, he’s going to take it out on his enemies. We’ve got to explain to the American people what that means to them — what the collapse of American democracy will mean to all of us.”

Sanders’s words echo those President Biden made in a recent campaign speech during which he said that Trump’s return to the presidency would risk American democracy. The president highlighted the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol in an attempt to cement a point about Trump and other Republicans espousing a kind of extremism that was seen by the world on that day.

  • mozz
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    691 year ago

    Biden does support Genocide, in this particular instance. Giving him hell for it and trying to do what people can in order to save all the innocent people getting bombed and shot right now, is fine.

    Trump is still infinitely worse. If you think 20,000 dead Gazans is bad, wait until you see what Trump wants to do. Last time around, he fucked up the response to a global crisis that’s currently killed over a million Americans, and that was without even trying; and without any of the vengeful things he’s itching to do this time around if he gets in.

    • AnonTwo
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      171 year ago

      Yes, I think the main issue is (sadly), I don’t think we have an option that actually wants to stop the genocide. It would likely need to be handled by something other than elections, like larger protests.

      • @GregorGizeh@lemmy.zip
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        121 year ago

        America and Israel are joined at the hip. Anything less than unconditional military support is not a political position conducive to getting elected, there is intense lobbyism going on to make sure of that. Then there is also the evangelical angle that the jews must control Israel for the rapture to come, so they don’t give two shits about genocide.

      • mozz
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        71 year ago

        Yeah. I saw the stories about protests around the world and felt guilty that I wasn’t in them.

    • @teamevil@lemmy.world
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      141 year ago

      That mother fuckers incompetence is going to kill millions on millions as well as any hope for America’s future. Fucking Nero while Americans burn

    • @Socsa@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      The salient point here that so many people are missing is that allowing Trump to be elected because of some misguided ideological purity will absolutely do nothing to protect or liberate the Palestinian people, so why even pretend to care about that, if you aren’t a right wing troll? Allowing far right demagogues to usurp control of western nations will, in fact, cause untold suffering of billions. Palestinians included.

      If you are an actual leftist, then it is your duty to consider this moral liability, and soak in the discomfort of the situation with the rest of us. Ideological purity does not cleanse you from this, not matter how much you wish that.

      • @Pratai@lemmy.ca
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        51 year ago

        It’s my belief that the “gEnOciDe jOe” was started by full-on MAGA trolls. It’s the_Donald all over again. Started as a troll by MAGA, ended up being believed by the far left.

      • @zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
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        -51 year ago

        If Biden is such a shitty candidate that he loses to Trump, that’s his fault. Man, the US left loves to eat their own so badly. “Ideological purity”, my ass.

        Why doesn’t Biden bear any responsibility for protecting the US from a wannabe dictator? He isn’t some force of nature. He has autonomy. He can make decisions. He can do the right thing.

      • @Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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        -51 year ago

        People for whom support for genocide is a dealbreaker exist whether you understand them or not.

        If Biden wants their votes, he cannot continue to support genocide.

        No amount of insults or accusations will change that.

        • @Socsa@sh.itjust.works
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          31 year ago

          I mean I know it has nothing to do with genocide because I’ve had this same conversation with the same trolls for almost two decades now. Get better material.

        • mozz
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          11 year ago

          Those people are going to share some responsibility for the much worse genocide that Trump ushers in, then. They can claim it’s not their fault if that happens, but they’ll be lying.

          • @Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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            01 year ago

            Preemptively blaming them for the loss that centrist Democrats would prefer to having to abandon support for genocide hasn’t changed the situation:

            If Biden wants the votes of people for whom genocide is a dealbreaker, he cannot continue supporting genocide.

            • mozz
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              11 year ago

              Good luck in the hellscape that’s coming, then. You’ll have the comfort of your explanation for why it’s not your fault.

              • @go_go_gadget@lemmy.world
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                -11 year ago

                It’s not our fault because we didn’t vote for Biden in the 2020 primaries. The selfish pieces of shit who did decided to fuck over progressives and leftists and now you’re all mad because you can’t count on us in the general? Pound sand. Stop electing procorporate trash in the primaries.

                • mozz
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                  11 year ago

                  Are you under the impression that I didn’t vote for Bernie Sanders in the primary? Because I did. I’m not one of the pieces of shit who fucked him over. I don’t like them any more than you do.

                  You need to realize that there may not be a primary or general election for you or I to vote or get fucked over in for quite some time if Trump wins. If that happens, it’ll be your fault, and I’ll just have as much right to be mad at you as you seem to be at me right now.

                  Refusing to vote for Biden in the general is going to help nobody except the absolute worst and most antidemocratic of the procorporate trash. If you want to do that, you’re helping them, in conjunction with the people who fucked you and me over in the primaries.

              • @Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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                -11 year ago

                It’s not going to be my fault; I’m voting for Biden.

                That doesn’t change the opinion of those for whom support for genocide is a dealbreaker. If he wants their support, he cannot continue to support genocide.

                If centrists want to win, they need to get used to the idea that they might not always get every single thing they want. Biden may need to do something centrists don’t like and cease his support for genocide.

          • @go_go_gadget@lemmy.world
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            -21 year ago

            No we won’t. We didn’t want Biden in the first place. The blame lies with every piece of shit who voted for him in the 2020 primaries.

            • mozz
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              21 year ago

              Blame can be shared. If Trump wins, it’s partly the DNC’s fault yes, and obviously a lot of the fault is Trump’s, and also it’s partly yours, if you help him get elected through inaction.

                • mozz
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                  01 year ago

                  I know. I’m probably going to quit after the most recent message. IDK, I wanted to try to talk some sense into the person, because it’s important.

                  Maybe they’re a shill, or maybe sincerely think they’re doing something good for progressives with that stance. Either way I feel like putting the counterargument out there is a good thing to do. But yeah now it’s just a merry-go-round of back and forth.

                  • @GilgameshCatBeard@lemmy.ca
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                    01 year ago

                    I’m half tempted to just bail on Lemmy entirely. This place is so overrun with teenaged socialists that are determined to destroy what little chance democracy has just because they don’t understand what’s going on and chose to buy into MAGA propaganda.

              • @go_go_gadget@lemmy.world
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                01 year ago

                Buddy, the people who voted for Biden in the 2020 primaries specifically to fuck over progressives and leftists knowing full well they hated his guts are at fault. You can’t assign blame to me without assigning blame to them as well.

                So say it now: People who voted for Biden in the 2020 primaries are selfish pieces of shit.

                • mozz
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                  01 year ago

                  Buddy, the people who voted for Biden in the 2020 primaries specifically to fuck over progressives and leftists knowing full well they hated his guts are at fault.

                  People who voted for Biden in the 2020 primaries are selfish pieces of shit.

                  Who are these people in your imagination? Like I know people want good things, and I hate them I’ll vote for bad things on purpose argbglglbgbgg. On the Republican side that exists to a certain extent yes; I know a bunch of people who did vote for Biden and not one of them is evil like that in their motivation. In the results? Yeah, maybe.

                  I think Biden is a center-right rich white guy, and a progressive candidate would be way better. But I don’t think people voting for him are actively trying to wreck everything; they’re just misinformed. Is this idea that they did it specifically to fuck over leftists, what is it based on?

                  You can’t assign blame to me without assigning blame to them as well.

                  I do assign blame to them also, yes. The Democrats electing center-right corporatists who don’t really look out for the working class is a huge part of the problem. But I also assign part of the blame to you, if you’re (through inaction) actively helping the end of the world come to the US because you didn’t get your way.

                  • @go_go_gadget@lemmy.world
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                    01 year ago

                    But I don’t think people voting for him are actively trying to wreck everything; they’re just misinformed. Is this idea that they did it specifically to fuck over leftists, what is it based on?

                    Give me one good reason to vote for Biden over all other candidates in the primaries.