- il y a 12 heures
À 29 ans Julia Salazar, est sénatrice de l'Etat de New York où elle représente Brooklyn. Membre du DSA, une organisation qui se réclame du socialisme démocratique, celle qui a soutenu Bernie Sanders pour la primaire de 2020 évoque les enjeux de l'élection présidentielle du 3 novembre.
Elle explique également comment l'élection de Trump a entraîné une forte adhésion à son organisation socialiste et les conséquences que cela pourrait avoir à l'avenir.
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Elle explique également comment l'élection de Trump a entraîné une forte adhésion à son organisation socialiste et les conséquences que cela pourrait avoir à l'avenir.
📣 SUIVEZ L'HUMANITÉ
La fête de l'Humanité : https://fete.humanite.fr/
Tous nos articles : https://www.humanite.fr/
Facebook : https://fr-fr.facebook.com/humanite.fr/
Twitter : https://twitter.com/humanite_fr
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NewsTranscription
00:00Senator, the first question. You've been overwhelmingly re-elected. Jabari Blisport, Farah Souffron-Forest, Marcel Amitainas, Zoran Mamdani, and Hermélie
00:10Gallagher also won their primary.
00:12It's such a victory that Ryan Greene, the journalist for The Incept, said that the Democratic Socialists of America are
00:20going to take over New York City.
00:22What is your impression about that? And if so, how do you see that shift growing outside of New York,
00:27and what will New York's world be in that shift?
00:30So, I think the context is really helpful, the political context is really helpful for understanding what's happening, going back
00:40even to 2016, when Senator Bernie Sanders, of course, ran openly as a Democratic Socialist for the Democratic nomination, and
00:52ran a really inspiring campaign, inspired millions of people around the country, including
00:58a lot of working class people, and people who ordinarily are disillusioned with politics, myself included.
01:06And naturally, because he ran as a Democratic Socialist, the Democratic Party, the Democratic National Committee, was openly hostile to
01:20him.
01:20And by extension, to his supporters, and to so many Americans who, for the first time ever, or for the
01:30first time in a long time, were becoming civically engaged.
01:34And so, ultimately, of course, Hillary Clinton won the Democratic primary, and Trump won the general election.
01:42And it was devastating. It was a devastating result. And for a lot of people, particularly in New York, but
01:50really across the country,
01:51the result of that election, first of all, it motivated thousands of new members to join the Democratic Socialists of
01:59America, which saw, you know, this huge membership boom grew exponentially and has continued to steadily grow since then, in
02:09the nearly four years since then.
02:11But also, it motivated a lot of people to say, okay, well, I've, you know, there was this, this stark
02:24contrast between the political reality that many of us see in our communities and experience in our lives locally,
02:32versus the result that we saw with Trump winning the presidential election.
02:37So, it motivated a lot of people to think, well, if I'm going to be able to affect change, then
02:42I need to become more involved, more actively involved in local politics.
02:48And I was one of those people, as well. I had been involved in electoral campaigns, you know, before 2016,
02:56and had been involved in Bernie Sanders' campaign.
02:58But I was, I saw the result of the election, then also recognized that it was going to actually have
03:07an existential impact on the most vulnerable people in our country, particularly, of course, our undocumented neighbors.
03:15As soon as Trump was sworn into office, he was already signing executive orders, coming after undocumented people, coming after
03:25the Affordable Care Act, which, you know, is not universal healthcare, unfortunately, but did at least extend access to healthcare
03:36to millions of people, right?
03:38So, trying to undo all of this, and people began to organize locally, and at the state level, to fight
03:44back.
03:45And so, fast forward to 2018, that's when I first ran, right, openly as a democratic socialist, and defeated a
03:54longtime incumbent.
03:55This time around, we're seeing the outcome of about four years of people consistently becoming more and more actively involved
04:12in local politics, and people becoming more involved in, certainly, the democratic socialists of America, but also, at the same
04:23time,
04:24the issues that affect people's everyday lives are being exacerbated.
04:32And that was the case even before the pandemic, right?
04:36It was the case because of capitalism, right? It would have been true, even if we had a democratic president,
04:44but it's all the more apparent and severe when we have a president like Donald Trump.
04:51And so, with that, more and more people have become, have been motivated to run for office, and to run
05:01either openly as democratic socialists, or, sorry, my dog is distracting.
05:07I may move to another room, so that he doesn't do this.
05:23Right, so it's motivated more people to run for office, and it's people like, certainly myself, Jabari Brisport, Farah Sufrant
05:34Forest, Marcella Mitainis, but also people across the country.
05:37And they're not only running, we're not just seeing, you know, more competitive races, but they're winning their primaries, including,
05:49including in red states, like Tennessee, for example.
05:55We just saw a black woman challenging an entrenched incumbent for US Senate, no less.
06:04So, I'm only a state senator, but running for a federal position, ran openly as a democratic socialist, had the
06:11support of the democratic socialists of America, raised something like $8,000, $9,000 total.
06:18That's right, yeah.
06:20I mean, that's like pocket change in the context of a Senate or congressional race, and she won her election,
06:26right?
06:27So, it isn't even just happening in New York.
06:32The reason that these campaigns are succeeding, despite other metrics of strength in an electoral campaign lacking, right?
06:45Like fundraising or institutional support.
06:48The reason that we are still winning these elections is because we are speaking directly to people's needs and their
06:57pain, socially, economically, and proposing and actually fighting for real transformative solutions.
07:10And those solutions, all of those solutions are related to or really entrenched in an anti-capitalist worldview.
07:25And, you know, the skeptics in all of these races, in my race in 2018, there was certainly plenty of
07:32red baiting.
07:33There was even in the time between elections, people, you know, being very alarmed that I would publicly identify as
07:43a Marxist.
07:45This response is typical of the liberal elite, but it doesn't resonate for the everyday working class people who are
08:02voting in elections.
08:03Right? What they, they, they either are, are completely, they have positive, a positive view of socialism or they're sort
08:18of uninterested in whether or not someone identifies as democratic socialist and more interested in what your answer is to
08:26the fact that they can't afford to go to the doctor when they're sick.
08:30Or whether you're sick.
08:32Or whether you are, whether or not you're talking about the root causes of us losing 5,000 people in
08:37Brooklyn alone, not in New York, it's, it's got to be more than 100,000 people at this point to
08:44COVID-19.
08:44Right? And, and, and so many people not having adequate healthcare or childcare, so many people being unemployed.
08:54All of these problems are really a crisis of capitalism.
08:59And people recognize that those of us who are running as democratic socialists are, are advocating for real solutions to
09:10those problems.
09:10Okay. You mentioned COVID-19. We are amid a global health crisis. In the USA, the death toll is now
09:20above 160,000. New York is civilly hit. Do you think that people decided to vote for socialists candidates because
09:29they support Medicare for all?
09:31Yes. Um, I, while I don't think it's the only reason, um, I think it's a very compelling reason. Uh,
09:42additionally, there are some candidates who are running to the left of incumbents, who maybe, who would identify as progressive,
09:53who support Medicare for all, and, um, who maybe you could better characterize as like, um,
10:01left liberal. Um, they're not even entirely aligned with us. And yet even they are recognizing that our for-profit
10:09healthcare system has, um, just been a devastating failure. And until we have universal healthcare in the United States, we
10:21are going to not only, we're, we're not only going to see just this overall devastation when there's a pandemic,
10:31but we're going to see this egregious racial disparity in the impact, right? So the communities that I represent are
10:40predominantly people of color. The majority of my district is, um, black and Latino, uh, New Yorkers. And, um,
10:51and we've seen the highest rate of deaths from COVID-19 in East New York, for example, a neighborhood that,
10:58that I represent, um, very close to where I live. Um, and it isn't, uh, it's not just by chance,
11:06of course, that, that, um, black and brown New Yorkers are dying at a much higher rate than white New
11:14Yorkers. Even, even if you account for, um, economic status,
11:19uh, it's about racism in access to healthcare in the way that our hospitals are funded in, um, that, you
11:29know, the fact that we have fewer, um, hospitals that are well-funded in our neighborhoods, um, and predominantly black
11:38and brown neighborhoods, uh, and, and our hospitals that we, that we have here instead, public hospitals, um, are, uh,
11:48there, there are
11:48their funding, their Medicaid funding is on the chopping block, every, for every state budget, city budget, um, and are
11:57hurt the most when the federal government makes Medicaid cuts or cuts to healthcare. So, uh, people are really, are
12:06really hurting. And they're also recognizing that public health, people who used to not really take public health seriously,
12:16um, um, and maybe had more of a, like a personal responsibility, view of healthcare, um, are recognizing that the
12:32importance of public health, certainly in the context of this pandemic. And, um, that, that really, I think drives
12:45people toward solidarity and the solidarity that's, that's really necessary in order to support universal healthcare and not healthcare that's
12:57dependent on your immigration status or, um, your employment status, particularly in a moment when so many people are unemployed.
13:06We have the higher, you know, the highest unemployment rates in the United States right now that we've seen since
13:12the Great Depression. So almost a hundred years. Um,
13:15Um, and, and, uh, yeah, I, I just think that, that there were already, there was already a, a growing
13:23movement in support of Medicare for all, but there's no doubt that this pandemic, certainly in New York, because we've
13:32really been the epicenter in the United States, um, of the pandemic.
13:36Um, we, we, it's, it's, it's motivating people to, to support it. And it's becoming a very important distinction between
13:48democratic socialists or even just progressives and, um, and liberals or centrists in the democratic party.
13:57Let's talk about the presidential election. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Flaib won their primary. So did Jamal Berman and
14:06Cori Bush. Besides, Joe Biden is leading the latest polls.
14:11However, you consider yourself a Marxist. What is your opinion about Joe Biden? Are you going to vote for him?
14:19And according to you, what's the better way to defeat President Trump? Do you think that elected socialists could shift
14:26the policy of the Biden administration?
14:29I think back with, with this question, I, I reflect on the outcome of the election in 2016. Um, of
14:40course, the, there's this two party system in, in the United States that really demands in, in every state, certainly
14:52in the general election that you are voting for, um, either a Democrat or a Democrat or a Democrat.
14:58Or you're casting a sort of protest vote for a third party candidate. Um, and looking back at 2016, I
15:08reluctantly for the general election after supporting Senator Sanders for the primary, um, I supported Hillary Clinton because I felt
15:21that I would much rather be organizing for change under a Democratic president.
15:28who at least would have more humane policies toward our most vulnerable communities than, than the alternative than President Trump.
15:42Um, and I still feel that way in that. I remember how so much of our organizing work locally,
15:56who at the state level, um, has been dedicated just to protecting people and fighting for their survival in a
16:09way that the, the capacity that we've had to dedicate to that would much better be dedicated to fighting for
16:21transformative change.
16:22Georgia Stratton- Like universal healthcare, um, Medicare for all right. Um, change such as forgiving completely forgiving student debt
16:33and tuition free public education across the country.
16:39things that that democratic socialists have really been leading the way on fighting for a green new
16:45deal we would have more capacity and strength to fight for those things and truly just a better
16:57chance of passing them if we had a democratic president so personally I plan to vote for Joe
17:07Biden I'm very concerned that we will see a similar result that we saw in 2016 and and meaning that
17:22president Trump will be reelected and and then at the same time we could probably expect people to
17:32only become angrier with the Democratic Party for once again failing to nominate and support
17:40a an inspiring Democratic candidate who not only gains the support of gains institutional support
17:55but within the Democratic Party but also is able to motivate and and earn earn the trust and the votes
18:06of people who sat out last election in 26 last presidential election in 2016 um even you know
18:16I I know these people all of us um I I would say anyone actively involved in politics in the
18:23United
18:23States knows someone who either stayed home in 2016 because they weren't motivated to vote for Hillary
18:30Clinton um or someone who voted for Trump who would have voted like my own some of my own family
18:40members
18:41who would have voted you know have more of a populist political orientation who would have voted for
18:49for Bernie Sanders had he been on the ballot instead um and and uh I'm unfortunately not convinced that
18:57those same people are going to be motivated to vote for Joe Biden um but I actually hope I I
19:05still hope that
19:05that that's not the case I I would much rather us have a Democratic president um and be be fighting
19:14for
19:14these policies like medicare for all green new deal under a Joe Biden presidency than under a Trump
19:20presidency let's focus on the Democratic Party in the 60s true writers of decent magazine said that
19:26the main arena in which a radical coalition can work is the Democratic Party what's your opinion do
19:32you think that elected socialists are in capacity to shift the Democratic Party on the left or are you
19:38one of those who want to make DSA a political party I think that we really need to be creating
19:47a blueprint
19:48for a new left party in the United States and I think this for a few reasons one the I
19:58do I do think that the
19:59Democratic Party or at least people who run on the Democratic Party the the demographic is changing the
20:12political orientation is moving leftward and that's a positive thing certainly it's it's a positive thing
20:19within a system where these two parties dominate I even though I identify of course as a Democratic Socialist
20:32and I organized with Democratic Socialists I still am in the Democratic Party's conference within the state
20:40legislature which is sort of a testament to how at least by that metric the Democratic Party
20:48is shifting leftward the problem is in the United States because of the way our political parties have
20:57functioned especially at the national level the vast majority of people even people who are actively involved in
21:06politics or are elected officials like myself we don't have any affection for the party whose whose party line we
21:17run
21:17on every election or who we are you know paper members of and that is that is what leads me
21:29to believe that
21:30even if the Democratic Party the members I should say of the Democratic Party begin to skew more leftward
21:41it is not going to be a mechanism for social change in this country the way that a party gaining
21:53seats in a
21:53legislature in another country where parties dysfunction differently than they do in the United States that
22:00could be a mechanism for social change and the left and Democratic Socialists taking power I
22:11inherently the Democratic Party is still a capitalist party in that the they're very they're actually still
22:22very similar to the Republican Party in fundamental ways in their their worldview in the way that they think
22:31society should function it's very telling that recently leadership in the the Democratic National Committee in
22:41preparation for the National Convention they excluded Medicare for all deliberately they voted to exclude
22:52Medicare for all from the party's platform that to me just demonstrates a party that where where
23:01participation and leadership is concentrated at the very top directly related to who has the resources to
23:10participate who can sort of by participation and and it indicates that they're just really out of time
23:22touch with the majority of Americans so I think that even as it's strategic for many of us to run
23:34on the
23:35Democratic Party line certainly to work with people who are registered Democrats or in Democratic leadership we
23:45really should be building a true left sort of labor a labor party a working-class party an anti-capitalist
23:56party a
23:56Democrat a Democratic Socialist Party in the United States through which not only not only would it be an
24:05alternative to the the Gemini the two-party system but it also would be a party that just fundamentally would
24:15function differently than these other two parties a party where the it's it's like small d Democratic
24:24where people who register with this party actually have the agency to eat you know equitably to make decisions for
24:41the party or inform the party's decisions at every level of government so essentially yes I you know there can
24:52be a
24:52positive impact of change within the Democratic Party but I don't think it should be at all a primary goal
24:59of the
24:59left I think it's it's sort of futile to think that changing the Democratic Party is going to
25:06to certainly that that it's going to overthrow capitalism or change our our society into one
25:21where people are valued over profit senator is my last question AOC and Bernie Sanders worked for the Biden's
25:30unity task force and on some issues the results are quite disappointing once again I think about
25:36Medicare for all the unity task force wants Medicare for who's who turn 60 instead of 65 today and the
25:44same
25:44issue four years ago hello Clinton proposed Medicare for who's who turn 55 why dislike of ambition did Bernie Sanders
25:52get once again defeated by the establishment yes I think that while it was it was important for the Sanders
26:02campaign and
26:03and Sanders surrogates delegates like Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez it was important for them to take advantage of the opportunity to
26:18inform this unity platform right with the Biden campaign it was it it's better than the alternative
26:28it it it definitely didn't achieve some of our just most fundamental needs are sort of red lines were not
26:44honored if Medicare for all is is one of our top priorities which I think it absolutely must be
26:53And I think that indicates that in this unity task force and the the institutional democratic party that supported Joe
27:09Biden still had the upper hand still really had
27:13more weight than our people than the left and so it's it's sort of unsurprising that this was the outcome
27:25and it and it does speak to the need you know if if that outcome and that process the unity
27:35task force
27:37is sort of a picture of what it looks like for the left to fight for representation or more influence
27:54within the Democratic Party if that if if that outcome of this platform is a picture of what that look
28:04that struggle would look like
28:05then it really makes the case for us to be focused on a more long term goal of building a
28:17party that truly a working class party that that represents the vast majority of Americans instead of being dominated by
28:33by people who are comfortable with the capitalist system