After a long campaign and what felt like an even longer election night, Republican nominee Donald Trump became president-elect of the United States. The businessman turned politician delivered his victory speech early Wednesday morning, and his win has gotten many different strong reactions from social media, as well as other politicians. So what was Bernie Sanders' reaction to Trump's victory? The former Democratic candidate for president had been noticeably quiet on social media since numerous news media outlets called the election for Trump, but the usually outspoken Sanders broke his silence in a Wednesday statement:
Donald Trump tapped into the anger of a declining middle class that is sick and tired of establishment economics, establishment politics and the establishment media. People are tired of working longer hours for lower wages, of seeing decent paying jobs go to China and other low-wage countries, of billionaires not paying any federal income taxes and of not being able to afford a college education for their kids — all while the very rich become much richer.
To the degree that Mr. Trump is serious about pursuing policies that improve the lives of working families in this country, I and other progressives are prepared to work with him. To the degree that he pursues racist, sexist, xenophobic and anti-environment policies, we will vigorously oppose him.
Sanders had posted his most recent tweet earlier Tuesday evening, congratulating Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy on his reelection. Even earlier on Tuesday, Sanders posted his support for Clinton throughout his social media accounts. On Twitter, he posted an image of himself while voting and wrote, "I hope we defeat Donald Trump and I hope we defeat him badly."
On his Instagram account, Sanders posted a video in which he said, "Today is an election of enormous consequence. I hope everybody gets out to vote." But on Monday, Sanders made a strong anti-Trump statement in an Instagram image, with a quote from him reading: "If you sit this election out and Trump wins by a few votes, many people are going to be dealing with that reality for their entire lives."
