They started to label us the podcast Bros and said that we were sexist and we were racist and bigoted. It's almost like it's the exact same strategy to get you out of there. And then you got to what we call identity politics. You're black, you're wonderful, you're tremendous. [00:00:15] You're gay. You're the greatest human being on earth. Yeah, yeah. And rather than saying, what do you what do you stand for? We felt that over the last four elections, Democrats, we felt that we didn't have a say on who could be president. [00:00:31] There hasn't been a fair primary for the Democrats since 2008. Are they not also a threat to democracy? We often hear fair enough. - This is a good discussion. - Why are you shocked? I'm shocked because. You're asking questions that are not often asked. [00:00:48] Senator Bernie Sanders is catching a ton of heat over his views on the Democratic Party's treatment of our system of government democracy, how we run our elections, which was the centerpiece, by the way, of the Democrats 2024 election cycle. [00:01:04] But before we see all of that commentary from Senator Sanders and what the fuss is all about, I do want to just quickly touch on what he had to say about identity politics. First, the context, though, because 2015, 2016, Bernie Sanders was [00:01:22] very, not very but he was different from 2020 Bernie Sanders, 2020 Bernie Sanders. I feel that he he felt he had no choice but to infuse his campaign with the identity politics in order to, [00:01:38] you know, keep the identity obsessed off his back when he wants to focus on the bread and butter economic issues. That honestly appeals to a much broader base of voters. But nonetheless, let's take a look at how that part of the conversation went down. [00:01:54] We have a question we want to ask about what happened to you in 2016 with this Bernie Bros movement where your your followers are seem they have a racism problem, a misogyny problem. Do you think that's a super PAC thing behind that? No, that was the Democratic establishment. During this election. The podcast space, which the Democrats largely avoided, they [00:02:15] feel had some influence in the election. And, they started to label us the podcast Bros and said that we were sexist and we were racist and bigoted. It's almost like it's the exact same strategy to get you out of there. Yeah, that's what the liberal elite China does. [00:02:32] And then you get to what we call identity politics. You're black, you're wonderful. You're tremendous. You're gay. You're the greatest human being on earth. Yeah. And rather than say, what do you what do you stand for? - Exactly. - Okay. That's fine. Who cares? Yeah, but what do you stand for? [00:02:49] I love that Senator Sanders focused on, you know, the content of someone's character, what someone stands for, politically speaking, what their objectives are when they're pursuing a position of power, because that does matter the most. [00:03:06] It absolutely matters the most. The identity politics situation is so dumb because what it does is I mean, was talks about this so perfectly, I can't articulate it as as well as he does, but it just gives you this illusion [00:03:23] of actually moving toward progress for marginalized groups of people in this country, when in reality, we're talking about elite people who get to enjoy positions of power, but they think exactly the same as the neoliberals, even the neoconservatives [00:03:42] that have destroyed this country. Yeah. So this Bernie interview is a Rorschach test, and it's a litmus test. So let me explain how it's both Rorschach in that when you look at it, you can see it depending on your perspective, very differently. [00:03:57] Right. We look at it and we go, oh, that's obviously true, right? Oh, and thank God he's finally saying it because we were worried that between 2020 and now he had not been saying it. Right. But he's taking a bolder stance against identity politics and against the Democratic establishment. Now, as a person who's populist left, I'm, you know, the economic wing of Bernie [00:04:16] movement that's to me is perfect. It's manna from heaven. Right. So but for the establishment, it's very clear they love identity politics. I'm gonna explain in a second why they love it so much. So they hate it, right? They now see, like the rad libs or whatever they. [00:04:32] Yeah. Rad libs is perfect, right? So those folks who are like, no, Biden's the youngest person in America. He's an infant. Kamala Harris is the greatest candidate that's ever happened. She would have won 50 states if it wasn't for blah, blah blah, the rascally kids. And so for those the crazed Democrats that like, got trained and brainwashed [00:04:51] on MSNBC that have now come online, right. So for those guys, they hate it. They look at the Rorschach test and they go, ugly old woman. I don't want it. Don't be criticizing Democrats and our beloved identity politics. I hate that guy. Right. So that's easy. [00:05:07] To me, what I'm curious about. And I'm genuinely curious, I don't know. I mean, you might have a better sense of it, but we're mainly going to see it in the reaction going forward. Right? Is what are our friends on the far left think right. Because so a lot of them are economic populists like us. There's a lot of over lap. Right. [00:05:23] They should not be pro-establishment. I mean, if you're far left, you shouldn't want anything to do with the establishment, right? So. But are they so wedded to identity politics that they're going to join the Mad Libs and go, no, since Bernie's not doing identity politics, [00:05:39] we're out, I don't know. I don't know, Jake. I think I think they're the same people. I think they're the same groups of people. Okay, so these are individuals. And look, there's the Democratic establishment that has, an interest in leaning into the identity politics, essentially fracturing the During [00:05:58] the Democratic base based on identity, which makes it even more difficult to work together as a broad coalition that pushes for economic prosperity in this country. Because think about how things have been playing out over the last decade. For instance, right on the Democratic side, you have all of these [00:06:16] little fractured groups of people, right? You have black people, Latino people, LGBTQ community, and every single one of them has essentially been conditioned to hyper focus on social policies that specifically apply to them and benefit them. [00:06:35] And it's not just benefit them as in their group, it's benefit them literally, personally. Yes. Right. So this is not for the masses. This is for among the elites. There's a certain number of categories of really good jobs that are going to get filled. [00:06:51] That's why you constantly hear about like, well, it's important to have, you know, fill in the blank representation. And I could use my own identity like it's important to have Muslim representation now. Does that bother going to fight like hell for the Palestinians and make sure that Israel doesn't get any more funding, etc.? Sometimes, and I hope so. [00:07:08] And then that representation would make a difference. But oftentimes they don't do that at all. Whether it's Muslim, black, gay, whatever it might be, they get that position to represent people. Then do they know, do they fight for a higher minimum wage so that you can uplift black and brown communities and all communities across the country? [00:07:26] Do they fight for health care, etc.? No. They leave all of that aside and they only focus on identity politics. And that is why the establishment loves identity politics, because it takes the place of real action. Yes, because if you. So it's a lot of us, you know, [00:07:43] like seeming action of like we're fighting them on LGBTQ issues, right. But wait, are you because they pass bills all over the country and you really did nothing about it, right? But rhetorically, we are wagging our finger at them. Yes, but did you pass paid family leave to help moms get some time off? [00:08:02] No, no, no, we didn't do that. But that's okay. Because we're American heroes. Because we're fighting for these vulnerable communities right now. Look, representation isn't a bad thing necessarily, but as. - Long as you actually represent. - But hold on. But when representation is literally used as a substitute to passing policies [00:08:21] that uplift the very community that individual is representing, what the hell is the point? Yeah. So look, guys, it's actually super easy to understand when you take out Democrats and put it in Republicans. So Doctor Oz is Turkish. Was I supposed to go, hey, I need Turkish representation in the Senate, right? [00:08:37] No, he was a Republican Trump supporter with a wacky ideas. So I was against them, even though he would technically get US representation because he doesn't actually represent Turks in America. Right? So now and Ben Carson and Herman Cain, etc., the list goes on. [00:08:55] Very easy to understand. But when you put in a corporate Democrat who also does nothing for black people, Muslim people, etc. It's gay people, etc. They go, no, no, no, it's okay. It's okay. As long as Pete Buttigieg is giving us representation, he doesn't actually have to do anything. [00:09:11] Yeah. And it's just it's nefarious in so many different ways. It fractures the Democratic coalition based on identity. It makes the coalition. I mean, there isn't a coalition. There's a fractured group of Democratic voters, I guess, who are less willing to work together on a common universal policy or cause that would benefit all of them. [00:09:31] Right? And at the same time, identity politics is used and weaponized as a way of destroying politicians that the Democratic establishment doesn't like. Right. So that was what Bernie Sanders was kind of talking about in the last clip that we were watching. [00:09:47] But he asks the question, okay, well, what do you stand for? And in this next clip, he explains what he stands for. So the issue is what you stand for, which gets you back to what we discussed earlier, class politics in the sense of which side are you on? [00:10:04] Are you going to stand with working families? Are you going to raise the minimum wage to a living wage or not? Or are you going to guarantee fight to guarantee health care to all people or not? Are you going to demand that the wealthiest people start paying their fair share of taxes or not? [00:10:20] Those are the issues that no one cares what color you are, what your gender is, etc. - Etc.. - I mean, that blazer is amazing. Okay, it really is. Okay, sorry, that's a side side note. No, but this. These are his values and they're universal values or values that would apply [00:10:39] universally in the form of policy for the American people to benefit all of us. It's easier to pass universal policies because there's buy in by various groups of people not based on, like, one identity or the other. And it's harder to repeal universal policies [00:10:56] like Medicare, like Social Security. Okay, it's harder because everyone pays into it and everyone gets to benefit from it. Yeah. So this is now the litmus test, because if you look at that and you go, no, you know, Bernie, I hate him. [00:11:12] Now he's saying he almost made fun of people in different ethnic groups. Oh, he's not doing identity politics. I hate him, and I'm not going to join his class action. Okay, well, there we have it. Yeah, I love that class action. I love uniting us all. [00:11:28] I love black people in the movement. I love white people in the movement. I love gay and straight people in the movement. I'm not going to tell any of them to shut up. I'm not going to tell any of them that they're inferior. In fact, I'll be livid if anyone says to any of those groups that they are inferior or they need to know their role. [00:11:45] None of that's going to happen. It's not going to happen against black people. And yes, it's not going to happen against white people. I know on the left they'll say it's never happened against white people. Okay, whatever, I don't care. Stop dividing us. Stop dividing us. Okay, so you're either in for that class action. [00:12:03] Bernie's talking about or you're not. Okay, so make a choice. And again, I don't know which I know. The red lips, they're going to be like, no way. And remember, a lot of the red lips are rich and they're upper middle class. And they don't want things to change. That's why they. Bernie bothers them more than anybody does. [00:12:19] Exactly. Because Bernie actually, unlike Trump, Bernie means it. So when they see Bernie, it's nails on a chalkboard for them. They're like, oh, he would change my privileged position. Identity politics, identity politics. Right. So now but again, for my friends on the far left who we thought we agreed with [00:12:36] on 98% of issues, I hope you still hold on to your principles that you stated. I mean, unless your principles have changed and you don't care about those things anymore, and you only care about culture wars, then okay, then that's your call. So finally, let's get to the clip that all the fuss is about. [00:12:55] This is what really set the Democratic establishment off. Let's take a look. We felt that over the last four elections, Democrats, we feel that we didn't have a say on who could be president. We talk a lot about the Republicans being autocrats and oligarchs [00:13:13] and taking over democracy. But from the Democrat perspective, and I'm a lifelong Democrat, I felt like the Democratic Party completely removed the democratic process from its constituents. And they I think they need to have some accountability of that. - No one can beat him. - I donated for you. [00:13:30] I wanted you to like, 2016. I was like, this is going to happen. This guy's going to do it. And it felt like they it felt like they stole it from you. And I'll be honest, it broke my heart when you when you supported him. Ostensibly, there hasn't been a fair primary for the Democrats since 2008. Are they not also a threat to democracy? We often hear. [00:13:47] Fair enough. That is. That is. Yeah. I'm not going to argue with that point. I mean, but but where's the lie? They're upset with him. Well, where's the lie? Where's the lie? Because if I recall, after, Kamala Harris and the Democrats in general [00:14:06] were shellacked in the 2024 election cycle, you know, you had a few Democratic lawmakers who were establishment individuals, by the way, who were willing to come forward, do a little bit of self-reflection. And some of them recalled what happened in 2016, and they fully admitted [00:14:22] that the Democratic establishment did whatever they needed to do to ensure that Bernie wouldn't be the Democratic nominee. And so where is the lie? Explain that to me. When you have the Democratic establishment manipulating the primary process in order to ensure their gal is the Democratic nominee, [00:14:42] even if they know that the base was far more interested in making Bernie Sanders the Democratic nominee. So and I keep going back to the far left in this case, because there are allies in this fight normally. Right? And so I know which side the establishment Democrats are going to come out on. [00:14:59] They're going to come out 100% against that statement by Bernie, and they're going to say, how dare you? The Democrats are pure as the driven snow. They're all angels. And if we just go back to another corporate Democrat, everything will be fine. We'll just go, you know, Hillary Clinton 2.0 or Biden 2.0. [00:15:15] We're going to everything's going to be great. Give me Buttigieg, Newsom. We're good. Right. Although they're mad at those guys these days. The Mad Libs are mad at everyone like and they and they make no rhyme or reason. It makes no sense. They're mad at Buttigieg for going on that same show. Flagrant. Andrew Schultz is a lifelong Democrat. [00:15:32] How many times does he have to say it right? No, not good enough. Not good enough. We have slight disagreement with beloved Democratic politicians. So those guys are I love them and I hope they get come to their senses. I hope they snap out of it and I hope they come and join us. And I think a lot of them will. Right. [00:15:48] But a ton of them will stay in that corner, and those will be our opponents in the 2028 primary. Those are going to be the Buttigieg Guys, etc.. Right. And they're always going to corporates going to corporate. Right. So now the rest of us have to rally around a populist that takes [00:16:06] up Bernie's economic mantle here and here in this interview he's planting the flag and saying economic populism and he's not unclear about it. And stop listening to Democratic leadership, which, by the way, I'm glad he learned that lesson recently. Okay. So and I love Bernie, and I love what he's doing here. [00:16:23] And I like that he's come to the right strategy now as well as the right policies, which he's always had. Right. So I hope our brothers and sisters on the far left go. Okay, guys, I hear you. We'll pick up the fight later. But in a primary, of course, we're going to vote with Bernie's side. [00:16:40] We're not going to vote with the corporate side. That's my hope. I think that's what's going to happen. But if that doesn't happen, then we're going to be fractured and the corporate guys are going to win. Every time you ring the bell below, an angel gets its wings. Totally not true. But it does keep you updated on our live shows.