Bernie Sanders talks Trump, Biden and inequality at Dublin event 

The former US presidential hopeful found himself interrupted by a protestor at the event at Trinity College Dublin

Bernie Sanders, pictured in 2020, during an election rally. File Picture: AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

A siren was wailing outside the Exam Hall in Trinity College as Bernie Sanders expounded his views on the world. There were a few whistles also, some shouting, as protestors attempted to breach the walls of old building. Inside, the packed hall barely noticed, such was the clarity and power of Sanders’ words. The senator from Vermont has charisma and talks buckets of sense.

The protest reflected the extent of upheaval the world is experiencing. At any other time, an event featuring Sanders in this country wouldn’t attract anything of the sort, bar, at the outer edges of possibility, some person or entity of an anti-abortion disposition. But Gaza has changed everything. To some who are passionate and committed about what is happening in Gaza, Sanders is just another cog in the US war machine, irrespective of how easily such an argument could be demolished.

As part of his visit to Ireland, Bernie Sanders met with President Michael D Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin. Picture: Maxwells

Sanders was in Dublin for a few events and to promote his book, 'It’s Ok To Be Angry About Capitalism'. The event on Friday was at short notice but the hall was full, with a queue snaking its way around the cobblestones outside for over an hour before kick-off. In the American political firmament this US politician is considered a radical, a man whose views render him unelectable for the presidency, yet on this side of the Atlantic he would be at home in the average social democratic party. Despite that, he does represent the kind of American values that are habitually referenced in public life, but rarely lived up to. Sanders is pretty unique in that respect.

Today, he believes that America is “moving rapidly towards an oligarchy…the top 1% own more than the bottom 99%.” This is reflected in wages where, taking inflation into account, “the average American worker is earning less today than fifty years ago”.

Politics, he posits, is simply corrupt. 

“The more insignificant the issue the more it is discussed,” he told journalist Fintan O’Toole, who was interviewing him. “The more significant the issue the less it is discussed.” 

Unfortunately, that drift in politics isn’t confined to the USA but it is most pronounced there, particularly in areas like the so-called culture wars. As an example of corruption, he related that there are 535 members of the House of Representatives who have to deal with 1,800 lobbyists.

The system is run on money and one of his proudest achievements is that he “revolutionized” campaign finances by raising funds through effective crowdfunding. Among the two main parties, however, it’s all about money and the power that is wielded through its application.

At one point, O’Toole asks him if he would have beaten Trump in 2016. 

“Absolutely,” Sanders replies. He did run for the Democratic nomination in 2016 and surfed an early wave of enthusiasm for change. Pretty soon the party got behind Hillary Clinton and she romped home with the nomination. There is no doubt that money and her husband’s record were influential in Clinton’s success, but it is also the case that many in the party simply did not believe that Sanders could win a presidential election.

In 2016, Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton contested the race for the US Presidency. Sanders claims he would have won. File Picture: Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty

Yet, in reality, up against Trump, he would have had a serious chance and particularly as he wasn’t carrying Clinton’s baggage. As he noted at Trinity, the rise of extremism can be, to a large extent, attributed to growing inequality in US society. 

“There are people whose fathers and grandfathers voted Democrat and now they can’t afford to send their children to college,” he said.

The resultant disillusionment has been a boon for Trump. He promises to bring back the old ways, make America great again, blame it all on immigrants and foreigners. Sanders pitches at the same constituency but in terms of the American values rooted in human dignity and inclusivity and ensuring that the 1% pay their fair share. So far, Trump has gotten more purchase.

After losing out to Biden for the Democratic nomination in 2020, Sanders has strived to work with him. 

“He’s a decent human being,” the senator says, notwithstanding the many profound political differences he has with the president.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

Sanders is 82 now, yet at a time when the debate in the USA is over the frailty of Biden and the sociopathic tendencies of Trump, he is an advert for the notion that age is only a number, exuding as he does, passion imbued with a current of anger over the level inequality that is not just tolerated but promoted in his country.

As the evening wound up, one of the protestors managed to get into the hall. She tore up the central aisle shouting at Sanders’ failure in the US senate to make greater strides to stop American support for Israel. 

“Just calm down,” O’Toole said the protester. “Let him answer your question.” 

The woman didn’t look like she didn’t wanted any answer, her mind was made up. In any event, Sanders said he was doing all he could to stop the horror in Gaza but he had a different approach to the matter at hand. 

“I’m not going to answer the question because I don’t like people disrupting me,” he said. “If a meeting is disrupted every day what are you going to do? You’re not going to have a meeting.” 

It was a cogent observation at a time when many feel that democracy may be under threat in the USA.