CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview with Senator Bernie Sanders
Interview
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BLITZER: Our breaking news President-elect Joe Biden is moving ahead quickly with his transition. He may name his new White House Chief of Staff as soon as tomorrow.
[17:20:04]
Joining us now to talk about all of this historic transition that's underway, the new incoming administration, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is joining us.
Senator Sanders, thanks so much for joining us.
I want to begin with your thoughts on where we as a country stand right now. Biden has been elected President of the United States, the President is choosing to disregard our democracy right now. Ignore the will of millions of Americans. What's your reaction to what's going on?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): It is outrage. Look, people lose close elections, Hillary Clinton lost a close elections. Other people have lost close elections.
And what you do in America historically, is you say, hey, I fought as hard as I could, I want to thank my supporters, I congratulate the winner. Let's go forward with a transition. We all love our country, and we want the best for America.
What he is doing right now is delegitimizing our electoral process and American democracy. What he is saying to his supporters is, we really didn't lose the election. Yes, maybe the other guy got 5 million more votes that we didn't actually, we really didn't lose it. It's fraud, fraud, fraud.
And millions of people, Wolf, are going to believe that, that is an outrage. You got to have the guts to sometimes say, you know what, I put up a fight, I lost. Congratulations to the winner. Let's go on.
BLITZER: Have you ever seen anything like this before?
SANDERS: No. It's not that I have not seen, nobody has ever seen this. This really is an outrage.
And this is why I worked so hard, the progressive community worked so hard in this election, because what we knew this campaign, this election was about, you know, it's not just climate change or criminal justice reform with the economy. It is whether or not we continue to have the president in Donald Trump who is a pathological liar, who really is trying to move this country beyond the rule of law. And that is something that we cannot accept. And thank God we were able to defeat them.
BLITZER: Your colleague, Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, told CNN he's hearing from some of his Republican colleagues who wish to congratulate President-elect Biden but say they can't do that publicly yet. Are you having similar conversations with Republicans behind the scenes?
SANDERS: Look, absolutely. You know, the average Republican senator is not an idiot. They understand that, you know, that Trump has lost.
But one of the other things that we should all be nervous about and fearful about is the degree to which Trump intimidates and scares the hell out of Republican members of Congress, they are afraid to stand up to him. So you've got a party, not of individuals, but almost a cult type party where members of the Senate who know better not just on this issue on many other issues.
They'll come up to you privately and say, yes, Trump's a little bit crazy, but, you know. So, you know, I think I would hope, I don't -- the Republicans won't take my advice, anyhow, I know that, but I would hope that they get the courage to stand up as individuals, represent their constituencies and to not live in fear of Donald Trump. It's not a good thing.
BLITZER: Yes. So far, four out of the 53 Republican senators have done so.
You and other progressives, Senator, you've stepped in line over the past few months to put forward a very unified United Democratic Party to get Biden elected. But as we all know, there are some significant policy differences, let's say between you and the President-elect, do you expect Biden's agenda will move toward your direction or move, let's say, towards the center?
SANDERS: Well, this is what I think, as you know, Wolf, early on in the campaign, members of the Biden team and my team sat down on some of the major issues facing our country, the economy, health care, education, climate, et cetera, to see how we can work together to come up with proposals that, you know, neither side necessarily agreed with, but which made sense for the American people, especially the working families of our country today who are suffering more than probably at any time since the Great Depression. And we have an out agreement.
So, if your question is, do I expect that the Biden administration will do everything that Bernie Sanders believes? No, I don't. But do I expect that they will come forward and keep their word in maintaining and legislating on the proposals which we agree to? Yes, I do.
And some of those proposals are very, very significant. You know, it means expanding health care to all Americans. It means lowering the Medicare age from 65 to 60. Means raising the minimum wage to at least 15 bucks an hour.
It means making it easier for workers to form unions, equal pay for equal work. Investing $2 trillion in combating climate change and creating millions of jobs as we move away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energy.
[17:25:16]
So what I have gone further? Yes. Are those significant proposals that will protect the needs of working families? Yes, they are.
BLITZER: We'll see if that unfolds.
Now, before I let you go, Senator, let me ask you about these reports, and I'm sure you've seen them that potentially you might be eyeing a position in President-elect Biden's cabinet labor secretary, for example. Is that true?
SANDERS: Well, what's true is I want to do everything I can to protect the working families of this country who are under tremendous duress right now, whether that's in the Senate, whether that's in the Biden administration, who knows? Well, let's see how that unfolds.
BLITZER: But if he asked you to join the cabinet as labor secretary, would you say yes?
SANDERS: If I had a portfolio that allowed me to stand up and fight for working families, would I do it? Yes, I would.
BLITZER: All right, Senator Sanders, maybe I'll call you Mr. Secretary one of these days, thanks so much for joining us.
SANDERS: Thank you, Wolf.
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