Independent Senator Bernie Sanders has thrown his full support behind NYC mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist challenging billionaire-backed candidates in a high-stakes race. As Mamdani’s people-first agenda gains traction, Wall Street titans, mega-landlords, and political elites are pouring tens of millions into anti-Mamdani effort
#BernieSanders #ZohranMamdani #NYCPolitics #WallStreet #BillionaireBacklash #NYCMayoralRace #BernieBacksMamdani #MamdaniForMayor #WallStreetVsPeople #NYPrimary #Cuomo #Mamdani2025 #BernieTour
Also Read
Bernie Sanders to Run for Fourth Senate Term Amid US Democratic Concerns :: https://www.oneindia.com/international/bernie-sanders-82-seeks-fourth-senate-term-011-3818219.html?ref=DMDesc
Operation Rakth Chandan: DRI seizes Red Sanders worth Rs 11.70 crore :: https://www.oneindia.com/india/operation-rakth-chandan-dri-seizes-red-sanders-worth-rs-11-70-crore-3414939.html?ref=DMDesc
Bernie Sanders drops out of 2020 Democratic presidential campaign :: https://www.oneindia.com/international/bernie-sanders-drops-out-of-2020-democratic-presidential-campaign-3068152.html?ref=DMDesc
~HT.410~GR.124~
#BernieSanders #ZohranMamdani #NYCPolitics #WallStreet #BillionaireBacklash #NYCMayoralRace #BernieBacksMamdani #MamdaniForMayor #WallStreetVsPeople #NYPrimary #Cuomo #Mamdani2025 #BernieTour
Also Read
Bernie Sanders to Run for Fourth Senate Term Amid US Democratic Concerns :: https://www.oneindia.com/international/bernie-sanders-82-seeks-fourth-senate-term-011-3818219.html?ref=DMDesc
Operation Rakth Chandan: DRI seizes Red Sanders worth Rs 11.70 crore :: https://www.oneindia.com/india/operation-rakth-chandan-dri-seizes-red-sanders-worth-rs-11-70-crore-3414939.html?ref=DMDesc
Bernie Sanders drops out of 2020 Democratic presidential campaign :: https://www.oneindia.com/international/bernie-sanders-drops-out-of-2020-democratic-presidential-campaign-3068152.html?ref=DMDesc
~HT.410~GR.124~
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00The richest people in New York City are saying,
00:02we are prepared to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to defeat Mamdani.
00:11Mamdani pulled off a major upset, some of you may know,
00:16and defeated Andrew Cuomo, who was the heavy favorite to win.
00:19Because Mamdani, Soran Mamdani, talked about issues of relevance to working class people.
00:26And the city responded to him, and he won the election.
00:30Hey, everybody. Thanks very much for joining.
00:34Generally speaking, the more important the issue is,
00:39the less it is discussed here in Washington, D.C.
00:43We talk about a whole lot of things,
00:47but most often stay away from the real issues that impact people's lives
00:52and impact our entire society.
00:55Let me give you just one example.
00:57Today, we are living under a corrupt campaign finance system,
01:06which is undermining our democracy.
01:09And it allows billionaires to control not only our political system,
01:15but our legislative process.
01:17That's it. Bottom line.
01:19You think you're living in a democracy?
01:21Well, yeah.
01:22You get one vote.
01:23Elon Musk gets one vote.
01:25But he also has the ability to put $290 million into a campaign
01:32to allow Donald Trump to become elected president.
01:36Does that sound like a democracy to you?
01:38Not to me.
01:39And increasingly, what we are seeing now,
01:42as a result of Citizens United and the growth of super PACs,
01:47are not candidates debating issues.
01:49That's democracy.
01:50You disagree with me?
01:52That's fine.
01:52Let's have a debate.
01:53But what you are seeing is competing 30-second ads
01:59that are funded by billionaire-controlled super PACs.
02:03So when you watch TV, you're on the Internet,
02:06you see some groups saying,
02:08citizens for this, citizens for that.
02:11In most cases, those are organizations
02:14that are funded by billionaires
02:18that are spending all kinds of money
02:21trying to defeat somebody or trying to elect somebody.
02:25And a lot of this began with this horrific Supreme Court decision in 2010.
02:32And by a five-to-four decision,
02:35the Supreme Court decided that we are infringing on the free speech of billionaires
02:43if we just don't allow them to spend as much money as they want to destroy democracy.
02:50So that's basically what the Citizens United Supreme Court decision was about.
02:55So what's happened since then
02:57is that we have seen political spending going up by more than 1,600%.
03:05In the 2024 elections,
03:09100 billionaire families on both sides of the aisle
03:13spent $2.6 billion.
03:16You got that?
03:17100 families spent $2.6 billion.
03:21That was double what they spent in 2020.
03:26And I have every reason to believe
03:28that that is going to go up and up and up.
03:30So you're going to contribute $20,
03:32which we desperately need, we appreciate,
03:35and that is vitally important in maintaining our democracy.
03:38And Elon Musk is not going to contribute $20.
03:41He's going to contribute $290 million,
03:44maybe more in the future, who knows.
03:46So, what does this tell you about our political system?
03:51It tells you that if you contribute like Musk $290 million,
03:56you become appointed by Donald Trump
03:59to be the most important person in the United States government.
04:04You become head of Doge,
04:07and you now can implement your extreme right-wing ideology,
04:11break unions,
04:12throw tens of thousands of federal employees out on the street,
04:17cut back on Social Security employees,
04:19employees at the Veterans Administration,
04:21and lay the groundwork, by the way,
04:23for the privatization of major government agencies.
04:25That's what you get
04:26when you contribute $290 million.
04:31But it is not just Elon Musk.
04:36In early July,
04:38just a few days ago,
04:40Republicans in Congress passed,
04:43as you all know,
04:44I hope you know,
04:45Trump's big, beautiful bill,
04:47which in my view
04:48is probably the most destructive piece of legislation
04:52passed in the modern history of our country.
04:56And this legislation provides
04:57a trillion dollars in tax breaks
05:00to the top 1%.
05:01So, all these guys
05:03who made campaign contributions,
05:05they're going to get it back in spades.
05:08You contribute a few hundred million dollars,
05:11or $10 million,
05:12you're going to get that back big time
05:14in a tax break.
05:16Massive tax breaks
05:17for large, profitable corporations.
05:19And it's all paid for
05:21by cuts to Medicaid,
05:23nutrition,
05:24and education.
05:25In fact,
05:26some have suggested
05:27this is the largest transfer of wealth
05:29from the working class
05:30to the top 1%
05:31in the history of our country.
05:33Further,
05:35as a result of this legislation,
05:37over 16 million Americans
05:39are going to lose their health insurance.
05:41And sadly,
05:42it just hurts me to have to say this,
05:45but studies suggest
05:46that some 50,000 Americans
05:48will die
05:48unnecessarily every year.
05:50Because when you're throwing off healthcare,
05:52you don't have access to a doctor
05:53and so forth.
05:55Now,
05:55the point that I want to make
05:56is I don't want to go into this bill
05:58at this time.
06:01But I want you to think about something.
06:03Think about how
06:05every single Republican member
06:07of the House and Senate,
06:09almost everyone,
06:10there were a few exceptions,
06:12voted for this horrific bill.
06:14Okay?
06:15Virtually every member
06:16of the Republican member
06:18of the Senate,
06:19Republican members of the House.
06:20Now,
06:21do you think,
06:23and I know these people,
06:25do you think that
06:26they don't know
06:27about the impact
06:28that these massive cuts
06:30to Medicaid
06:30and the Affordable Care Act
06:32and education
06:33and nutrition
06:34are going to have
06:35on their constituents?
06:36Do you think they don't know that?
06:37And many of their constituents,
06:39by the way,
06:39are working class and poor.
06:42The answer is,
06:43they do know it.
06:43They're not stupid.
06:44They know exactly
06:45what they're doing.
06:47But they also know
06:48that if one day
06:51they were
06:52to have stood up
06:54and said,
06:55you know what?
06:56I represent the district,
06:58it's working class,
06:59it's poor,
06:59a lot of people on Medicaid,
07:00kids trying to go to college,
07:01I can't vote for this thing.
07:04What do you think
07:05would have happened to them
07:06the very next day?
07:10And what would have happened
07:11is one or another
07:12of the oligarchs
07:13or the big money interest
07:15would have said,
07:16you're not voting
07:17for Trump's bill,
07:18you are out of here,
07:20we are going to
07:21primary you.
07:23And I'll give you
07:25an example of that.
07:26There's a guy
07:27named Tom Tillis,
07:28who was a U.S. senator
07:30from North Carolina.
07:33I don't know Tillis
07:34all that well.
07:35But, you know,
07:36he represents his state,
07:38seems like a normal
07:40type Republican,
07:41but he made a mistake.
07:43He actually studied
07:44what was in the bill,
07:45and it turns out
07:47that it would cause,
07:49that legislation
07:50would cause
07:51over 650,000 people
07:53in North Carolina
07:54to lose their health insurance.
07:57And having a sense
07:58of decency,
08:00he said,
08:01you know what,
08:02that's unacceptable,
08:03I represent the state
08:04of North Carolina,
08:05I can't vote
08:06to throw 650,000 people
08:08off their health insurance
08:08as they have.
08:09Well, you know what happened?
08:11The day after
08:13he's made that
08:15public statement
08:15that he was not
08:16going to vote
08:16for this bill,
08:17Donald Trump
08:18issued a ruthless
08:20denunciation of him
08:22and threatened
08:23to primary him.
08:25You,
08:26Tom Tillis,
08:27Senator Tillis,
08:28you're voting against me,
08:29you are out of here.
08:31And you know what happened?
08:32A few hours,
08:34a few hours after
08:35Trump issued
08:36a statement,
08:37Tom Tillis announced,
08:39I am not running
08:39for re-election
08:41to the United States Senate.
08:43He stood up,
08:45represented his constituents,
08:47and the billionaire class said,
08:48that ain't the way it works.
08:49We pay you
08:50to do what we want.
08:52You don't do it,
08:53you are out of here.
08:56But it was not just
08:57the big,
08:59beautiful bill,
09:00Trump's big,
09:00beautiful bill.
09:01We saw that
09:03in December of 24
09:05in what was called
09:08the
09:08CR,
09:11continuing resolution here,
09:13where
09:14we had worked,
09:16I was actually,
09:17my and my staff
09:18were really much involved
09:18in this,
09:19working on a continuing resolution
09:21to make sure
09:23that the government
09:23didn't shut down.
09:25And, you know,
09:26frankly,
09:26it was not the world's greatest bill.
09:28It wasn't.
09:28We were working
09:29with conservative Republicans,
09:31but
09:31that bill
09:32would have
09:33put funding,
09:35increased funding,
09:36into primary health care,
09:39into dental care,
09:40into mental health care needs,
09:42into nutrition programs
09:43for the elderly,
09:45and apprenticeship programs
09:47for young people.
09:48In other words,
09:49it was a reasonably
09:50good piece of work.
09:52It took months
09:53of negotiating,
09:54you Democrats,
09:55you Republicans,
09:56we were involved in that stuff.
09:57that bill
09:58was all
09:59set
10:00to be passed.
10:02And then you know
10:02what happened?
10:04Just as the Congress
10:05was set to pass
10:07that appropriations bill,
10:09Elon Musk
10:10sent out
10:11a series
10:11of tweets.
10:13And what he said
10:14is,
10:15you vote
10:16for that continuing,
10:17and he lied about
10:17what was in the bill,
10:19you're going to vote
10:20for that continuing resolution,
10:22we're going to primary you,
10:23you're out of there.
10:24And in minutes,
10:26legislation
10:27that had been worked on
10:28for months,
10:29Democrats,
10:30Republicans,
10:31progressives,
10:31conservatives,
10:32came together.
10:33All that Musk
10:34had to do
10:35was send out
10:36that series of emails,
10:37it was over.
10:38That's it.
10:39The Republicans said,
10:40forget it,
10:41we're not supporting
10:41that anymore.
10:43But it is not just Musk,
10:46and it is not just Republicans.
10:48This system,
10:49political system,
10:50campaign finance system,
10:52is just unbelievably
10:53corrupt,
10:54and it impacts
10:55the Democratic Party
10:56as well.
10:57Let me give you
10:58a few examples
10:58of how big money
11:00and a corrupt
11:01campaign finance system
11:02impacts Democrats.
11:06While outspent
11:07by Republicans,
11:09over 80
11:10Democratic billionaires,
11:1280 Democratic billionaires,
11:13donated tens and tens
11:15and tens of millions
11:16of dollars
11:17to help elect
11:18Kamala Harris
11:19to be president
11:19of the United States.
11:21I personally,
11:22many of you know,
11:22worked very hard
11:23trying to get her elected.
11:25But what ended up
11:27happening
11:27is all of that money
11:29from all of these billionaires
11:30heavily influenced
11:32her campaign.
11:33So instead of running
11:34a campaign
11:35that took on
11:37powerful special interests
11:39and made it clear
11:40that she
11:41and the Democratic Party
11:42were going to stand
11:43with a working class
11:45which is struggling
11:46terribly right now,
11:48instead of saying,
11:49I am with you,
11:49we're going to take
11:50on these billionaires,
11:51she ran a campaign
11:52designed not
11:54to antagonize
11:55the business community
11:56or the oligarchs.
11:58In fact,
11:58as some of you may recall,
11:59one of her main
12:00spokespersons
12:01was the billionaire
12:02Mark Cuban.
12:05Billionaire influence
12:06on Democrats
12:07goes well beyond
12:08campaigns.
12:09And I'll tell you
12:10another issue
12:11where it is
12:13very, very impactful.
12:15If tomorrow
12:16a Democrat
12:18would simply say,
12:19you know what,
12:19I can't continue
12:20to fund this Netanyahu
12:21government,
12:21they're starving
12:22children right now,
12:23humanitarian blockade,
12:25Netanyahu's a war criminal,
12:27you know what would
12:28happen to that candidate?
12:31AIPAC
12:31and other super PACs
12:33would say,
12:33you're finished,
12:35you're out of here,
12:36just like Musk
12:37is saying
12:37to the Republicans.
12:39And they have
12:40a track record,
12:41so it's not an idle threat,
12:42they have already defeated,
12:43you know,
12:44some very good Democrats,
12:46people like
12:47Cori Bush,
12:48Jamal Bowman,
12:49and other candidates
12:51who had the courage
12:52to say,
12:52you know what,
12:53I'm not going to support
12:53more military aid
12:55to continue the war
12:56in Gaza.
12:57So what you have
12:58right now
12:59is a political system
13:03in which both parties
13:05are heavily dominated
13:07by oligarchs
13:09and billionaire-funded
13:11super PACs.
13:13and it is also
13:15playing out
13:16as we speak
13:17right now
13:18in New York City
13:19where Mr. Mamdani
13:22pulled off a major upset,
13:25some of you may know,
13:26defeated Andrew Cuomo,
13:28who was the heavy favorite
13:28to win,
13:30because Mamdani,
13:31Zoram Mamdani,
13:32talked about
13:33issues of relevance
13:35to working class people.
13:36And the city responded
13:39to him
13:39and he won the election.
13:41He won the Democratic primary
13:43and there's going to be
13:44a general election
13:45come November.
13:47And you know what's going on
13:48right now?
13:48As we speak openly,
13:50I mean,
13:50they don't apologize for it,
13:51the richest people
13:53in New York City
13:54are saying,
13:54we are prepared
13:56to spend hundreds
13:57of millions
13:58of dollars
13:59to defeat
14:01Mamdani.
14:04That's it.
14:06That's your democracy.
14:07People spoke,
14:08Democrats selected a candidate,
14:11and the billionaires
14:12are unhappy
14:13with that direction.
14:14In fact,
14:14one billionaire
14:15just the other day
14:15said it publicly,
14:17not embarrassed by it.
14:19He said,
14:19I met with
14:20Mr. Cuomo
14:21and Mr. Adams,
14:22the two other
14:23two Democrats.
14:25Cuomo lost.
14:26Adams is running
14:27as an independent.
14:29And I think Adams
14:30is the superior candidate.
14:31I'm going to support him.
14:31Right out in the open.
14:33We, the billionaire class,
14:34like this candidate.
14:36So that's kind of
14:38where we are right now.
14:39This is an issue
14:40of enormous consequence.
14:44It impacts who wins,
14:46who loses elections,
14:47and it impacts
14:49our legislation.
14:51So,
14:52we have got to now
14:53stand up,
14:54fight back,
14:56in every way
14:57that we can.
14:58Short term,
14:59we've got to make sure
15:00that Zoran Mamdani
15:03becomes the next mayor
15:04of New York City.
15:06We've got to help
15:07in every way we can
15:08to see that he wins.
15:12Medium term,
15:13we've got to make sure
15:14that super PACs
15:16are not allowed
15:17to play a role
15:18in Democratic primaries.
15:20And longer term,
15:22we've got to overthrow
15:23this disastrous
15:24Citizens United
15:25Supreme Court decision.
15:26So that's a lot to do.
15:28But if we want to save
15:30American democracy,
15:32if we want to have
15:34a government
15:34that in any way,
15:35shape, or form
15:36represents working people
15:37and not just billionaires,
15:39those are the things
15:40we've got to do.
15:41So this is a big issue.
15:43Not a whole lot of people
15:43are talking about it.
15:45But it is the most significant
15:46political issue
15:48that we face.
15:49You can't talk about
15:50health care.
15:51You can't talk about housing.
15:52You can't talk about education
15:53without talking about
15:55the role that super PACs
15:57play in allowing billionaires
15:59to dominate our government.
16:00So a lot to be done.
16:02Let's go forward together
16:04because at the end of the day,
16:06yeah, they got the money.
16:08They got a lot of power.
16:09But they are just 1%.
16:11Last I heard,
16:1399% is a lot bigger number
16:14than 1%.
16:15So let's not let them
16:17divide us up.
16:17Let's stand together.
16:18Let's take them on.
16:19Let's beat them.
16:21Let's create a government
16:22that works for all,
16:22not the few.
16:23Let's save American democracy.
16:28Subscribe to One India
16:29and never miss an update.
16:33Download the One India app now.
Be the first to comment