Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) shared a stark outlook on the state of the country on Wednesday, declaring in an interview that “these are the scariest times in my life.”
The 83-year-old long-time senator shared his thoughts during an interview with “Pod Save America,” noting that his worry comes from the power that Elon Musk is gaining, saying the U.S. is seeing an “oligarchy” and “the movement toward authoritarianism.”
“It is not just they want to give tax breaks to billionaires and cut programs for working people. Frankly, that’s happened before,” Sanders said. “You combine that with the power of the oligarchy in general, you combine that with Mr. Musk owning Twitter and able to send out his messages to hundreds of millions of people.”
Sanders said that he views this as the biggest threat to progressivism in the U.S., while also saying it’s a danger to economic justice, something he has long championed throughout his political career.
The Vermont Senator went on to discuss the recent changes at the Washington Post, where waves of veteran journalists departed following decisions from the paper’s owner, Jeff Bezos, to limit the paper’s opinion section.
“You combine that with the fact that people like Bezos, the second-wealthiest person in the country, fired or got rid of most of his editorial staff and turning it into a right-wing thing,” he said.
Speaking on President Trump, Sanders said his threats against the media are a sign that the country is moving toward authoritarianism.
“Trump is suing major media outlets and is threatening to investigate PBS and NPR,” he said. “So it’s not only the power of money, it’s also combined with that the movement toward authoritarianism.”
Sanders not only criticized the actions of Musk and Trump, but also accused them of breaking the law by freezing funds appropriated by Congress. He also said they have shuttered agencies, despite not having the authority to do so.
“When Trump unilaterally cuts federal funding that was passed by Congress, that is illegal, that is unconstitutional,” Sanders said.
“When you have the vice president saying, well, in his judgment the courts don’t have the right to stop unconstitutional acts of the president, man, that is authoritarianism,” he argued. “He is now trying to end what the Founding Fathers was pretty smart about, creating a form of government where there were checks and balances.
“This is a scary moment,” the senator warned.