As Jeb Bush, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have done since the election cycle began, presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. After a resounding win in the New Hampshire primary, Sanders's momentum is at an all-time high heading into Thursday night's debate and the upcoming primary in Colbert's home state of South Carolina.
Colbert and Sanders had a lot to discuss Wednesday night, but before they tackled the issues, the senator from Vermont lent Colbert a hand with the monologue:
In January, one of the senator's biggest supporters, rapper and activist Killer Mike, stopped by The Late Show to explain why Sanders is the best candidate from a social justice perspective. "Bernie Sanders is the only politician who, consistently for 50 years, has taken that social justice platform into politics," Killer Mike said. "Right now we have an opportunity to elect someone who is directly out of the philosophy of [Martin Luther] King-ian nonviolence. We can directly elect someone who cares about poor people; cares about women, gays, blacks, whites; cares about lives that don't look like his. This opportunity in history is not going to come in another 20 years. If we don't take this opportunity right now, we're going to be sitting around the campfire mad because they've nuked the world to hell."
With Sanders himself in the hot seat, Colbert opted to challenge the Democratic hopeful's unbridled idealism, arguing that socialized health care is not realistic considering how many are opposed to Obamacare, which the insurance companies endorse. Sanders deflected the question, asking, as he has done time and time again, how we are the only major country that isn't able to "provide universal health care for every man, woman and child."
Sanders has been preaching this message since he declared his candidacy, though. What many have not considered before are the similarities between Sanders and Trump, at least in terms of their appeal. Colbert mentioned that there were people in New Hampshire unsure of whom to vote for between the two candidates. How is this possible? Sanders explained:
I think a lot of Donald Trump's supporters are angry. In many cases they are people who are working long hours for low wages. They are people who are really worried about what is going to happen to their kids. I think what they have done is responded to Trump's false message, which is that if we keep Muslims out of this country, or if we keep scapegoating Latinos or Mexicans, that somehow our country becomes better. I think that's a false solution. My view is that, yes, people have a right to be angry. You have a right to be angry when we are the only major country on earth that doesn't provide paid family and medical leave. When we have more people living in poverty today than almost any time in the history of this country. People have a right to be angry. But what we need to be is rational in figuring out how we address the problems, and not simply scapegoating minorities.
All right, maybe they're not so similar after all.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ryan Bort is a staff writer covering culture for Newsweek. Previously, he was a freelance writer and editor, and his ... Read more
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