Bernie Sanders stopped by Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday to discuss his post-election plans. While he said he was ultimately disappointed by the surprising presidential election results, he still feels optimistic about the future of the country. While also plugging his book, Our Revolution, the Vermont senator told Colbert the Democratic party is facing an identity crisis, and that is one of the reasons they came up empty in November:
“Democrats should not be losing to a candidate who insults so many people, who wants to give huge tax breaks to the top two-tenths of one percent, and who rejects climate change. How are we losing these elections? Something is fundamentally wrong. What I’m trying to do right now is bring about structural changes in the Democratic party so it becomes a grass roots party.”
Sanders has not been shy in voicing his concerns about the Democratic party, but he is offering ways to fix it. He said his goal right now is to help transform the Democratic party into one that is more inclusive and more in tune with what is going on in the political landscape:
“The Democratic Party cannot continue to be run by the liberal elite. The party has got to transform itself to be a party which, first of all, opens the door, that is the party that feels the pain of working-class people, of the middle class, of low-income people, of young people.”
Later in the interview, The Bern offered some advice for aspiring politicians. He said he is trying to help transform the Democratic party from the inside, and people on the outside can help by getting involved in political groups. He said that if more people are invested in the process, it can create change: “When millions of people stand up and fight back, we will not be denied.”