Bernie Sanders Blasts Trump During Iowa speech: ‘I Apologize. We Left the Helicopter at Home’
Progressive presidential candidate Bernie Sanders illustrated the stark difference between his populist agenda and his rivals’ when he chided Donald Trump’s display of excess at the Iowa State Fair on Saturday.
The billionaire real estate and media mogul had descended on the fair in a flashy black helicopter with the word “Trump” emblazoned on the sides and was giving children rides in it, The Hill reports.
Sanders seemed to find it ridiculous.
“Oh there’s Donald Trump, what can we do,” Sanders said mid-sentence. “I apologize, we left the helicopter at home. It’s in the garage, forgot to bring it.”
Sanders spoke Saturday about the need to close the inequality gap and double the federal minimum wage, currently $7.25 an hour. He called it a “starvation wage.”
“We’ve got to raise the minimum wage to a living wage, $15 an hour,” he said.
Sanders also said he supports a national health care plan by way of expanding Medicare to all.
He attacked Republicans for their efforts to take reproductive options away from women and block LGBT rights.
“Many of my Republican colleagues talk about family values,” Sanders said. “Their values are that a woman should not have the right to control her own body. I disagree. Their values are that our gay brothers and sisters should not be able to get married or enjoy all of the benefits of American citizenship. I disagree.”
Sanders talked about the need to enact paid family leave for all workers, address student loan debt and expand social security.
He also called the campaign system “corrupt” and vowed that, if elected, his Supreme Court nominee would have to promise to overturn Citizens United, a ruling that allowed unlimited amounts of money to be poured into elections.
At an event Friday, Sanders also vowed to end institutional racism, The Hill reports.
“No one will fight harder than I will to end racism in America and to reform our broken criminal justice system,” he said.
Watch Sanders’ full speech here:
