 Bernie Sanders spoke at George Washington University, and he gave a speech about democratic socialism now when I Initially learned that he would be speaking about democratic socialism I assumed that he'd be saying largely the same thing. He said in the past, you know I'm a democratic socialist in the sense that I believe we need a strong social safety net We need to make sure that people have political and economic rights But what we got here was much more than that Certainly, he touched on that but what Bernie Sanders delivered here was by far the most comprehensive Profound speech. I think he's ever delivered like this might literally be the best speech He's ever given because not only did he describe what he means by democratic socialism but what he did is he talked about the way and really the history of Socialism and how it's been used as a boogeyman To scare the masses and get them to not support policies that are in their best interests And on top of that he explained how his version of socialism is different than Donald Trump's Version of socialism because Donald Trump supports socialism. He just supports corporate socialism And what he did that I think was really important was he tied Democratic socialism to combating the rise of fascism because during the Great Depression what FDR did to fight extremism and fascism Due to economic desperation was he implemented these policies that are social democratic So what Bernie Sanders is saying is we're seeing this again right now And if we truly want to stop fascism and curtail radicalization and desperation We need to guarantee people a set of basic rights a second bill of rights so what this speech is about is him essentially laying out what FDR did to stop the rise of fascism and how it relates to now and He's basically pledging to continue FDR's vision now This speech is over 40 minutes long And I can't possibly play all of it for you and I will show you a clip But what that being said before I play a clip for you I have a pretty long clip. It's like 10 minutes long. So you're watching a quarter of it. I would highly highly encourage you To watch the entire speech. It's that good I found it very difficult to Kind of prepare a version that was more condensed because what he's saying here every word of it is extremely important So I'll link to the full speech down below I would encourage you to watch that as opposed to the more condensed version But I'm gonna play a clip for you 10 minutes long if you've already seen it. You can fast forward past that But when we come back, I'm gonna talk about the implications here Across the globe the movement toward oligarchy runs parallel to the growth of authoritarian regimes Like Putin in Russia she and China Muhammad bin Salman in Saudi Arabia Rodrigo de Trete in the Philippines hair Balsarano in Brazil and Victor Orban in Hungary among others These leaders meld corporates corporatist economics with xenophobia and authoritarianism They redirect popular anger about inequality and declining economic conditions Into violent rage against minorities Whether they are immigrants racial minorities religious minorities or the LGBT community and to suppress the set They are cracking down on democracy and human rights in The United States of course we have our own Version of this movement which is being led by President Trump and many of his Republican allies Who are attempting to divide our country up and attack these very same? Communities today. We are all rightly repulsed By the site of neo-nazis and clansmen openly marching in Charlottesville, Virginia And we are horrified by houses of worship being shot up by right-wing terrorists but on February 20th 1939 over 20,000 Nazis held a mass rally not in Berlin Not in Rome, but in Madison Square Garden in front of a 30-foot banner of George Washington bordered With swastikas in New York City New York City But back then those American extremists could not replicate the success of their Authoritarian brethren across the ocean because we in the United States thank God Made a different choice than Europe did in responding to the errors social and economic crises We rejected the ideology of Mussolini and Hitler and we instead embraced the bold and visionary leadership of Franklin Delano Roosevelt then the leader of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party together with organized labor Leaders in the African-American community and progressives inside and outside the Democratic Party Roosevelt led a transformation of the American government and the American economy like today The quest for transformative change was opposed by big business By Wall Street by the political establishment by the Republican Party and by the conservative wing of FDR's own Democratic Party and He faced the same scare tactics then that we experienced today red-baiting xenophobia racism and anti-semitism and Roosevelt concluded and I quote Never before in all our history Have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today They are unanimous in their hate for me and I welcome their hatred President Roosevelt was reviled by the oligarchs of his time who berated these extremely popular programs as Socialism similarly in the 1960s when president Lyndon Johnson brought about Medicare Medicaid and other extremely popular and important programs He was also viciously attacked by the ruling class of this country and Here is the point It is no exaggeration to state That not only that FDR's agenda improved the lives of millions of Americans But the new deal was enormously popular politically and help defeat far-right extremism today We have a demagogue in the White House Who for cheap political gain is Attempting to deflect the attention of the American people away from the real crises that we face and instead is Doing what demagogues always do and that is to divide people up and legislate hatred This is a president who supports brutal family separations border walls Muslim bands anti-LGBT policies deportations and voter suppression It is my very strong belief that the United States must reject that path of hatred and divisiveness and Instead find the moral conviction to choose a different path a Higher path a path of compassion justice and love and That is the path that I call Democratic socialism Franklin Delano Roosevelt helped create a government that made Transformative progress in protecting the needs of working families Today in the second decade of the 21st century We must take up the unfinished business of the new deal and carry it to completion but now we must take the next step forward and Guarantee every man woman and child in our country Basic economic rights the right to quality health care The right to as much education as one needs to succeed in our society The right to a good job that pays a living wage the right to affordable housing the right to a secure retirements and The right to live in a clean environment We must recognize that in the 21st century in the wealthiest country in the history of the world Economic rights are human rights. That is what I mean by democratic socialism Truman said and I quote Socialism is the epitaph they have hurled at every advance the people have made in the last 20 years And this is Truman. This is a quote from Harry Truman Socialism is what they called social security Socialism is what they called farm price supports Socialism is what they call bank deposit insurance Socialism is what they call the growth of free and independent labor organizations Socialism is their name for almost anything that helps all of the people and Harry Truman while President Trump and his fellow oligarchs Attack us for our support of democratic socialism They don't really oppose all forms of socialism They may hate democratic socialism because it benefits working people, but they Absolutely love corporate socialism that enriches Trump and other billionaires and that is the difference between Donald Trump and me He believes in corporate socialism for the rich and powerful I believe in a democratic socialism that works for the working families of this country in 1944 FDR proposed an economic bill of rights But he died a year later and was never able to fulfill that vision Our job 75 years later is to complete what Roosevelt started and that is why today I am proposing a 21st century Economic bill of rights My friends these are my values and that is why I call myself a Democratic Socialist at its core is a deep and abiding faith in the American people to peacefully and democratically enact the Transformative change that will create shared prosperity social equality and True freedom for all. Thank you very much Everything he said there is crucial. It's absolutely Absolutely crucial when you have these times where large multinational corporations and oligarchs Assume so much wealth and as a result, you know subsequently power and influence due to their their wealth People get increasingly desperate and they often become radicalized. They end up getting Exploited by a demagogue who preys on their desperation and who scapegoats women and minorities and immigrants and That same thing that happened during the Great Depression in the United States and around Europe is happening again So what FDR did was he gave us the blueprint? He gave us what we need To defeat fascism in order to stop fascism and stop the rise of these right-wing demagogues You've got to cut off The source of what makes the popularity or the rise or potential rise of these demagogues possible in the first place And that is mass Disenchantment with the establishment economic desperation if you can stop that Then you can stop the rise of right-wing demagogues and the ruling class. They don't care that fascism is on the rise So Bernie Sanders also describes here. You didn't see this But how you know, there were numerous examples of this socialist bogeyman being invoked when Truman proposed a Nationalized healthcare system, you know those that drafted it were demonized as literal communist Sympathizers who were following in the footsteps of Moscow, you know when the children's health insurance program was proposed It was called a step towards socialism by the Heritage Foundation So you've got to understand they're trying to scare you and they use socialism as a bogeyman To scare you so what this speech demonstrated to me is Bernie Sanders is the only person Running for president who gets this who actually knows how to defeat fascism Stop mass disenchantment with the establishment Stop desperation give people a Chance the opportunity to be successful and move up and move up the economic ladder And that's how you do it That's how you do it It's that simple but nobody else gets it. Nobody else sees what FDR did and wants to continue his vision Not even other progressives in the race so-called progressives like Elizabeth Warren because look at this tweet from Edward Isaac Dover when I told Warren that Sanders is giving a speech today saying Democratic socialism is the only way She shook her head and Laughed when I asked Harris. She said huh when I asked Bennett I Don't think the American people know what that means. So I mean you expect someone like Kamala Harris To say that you expect Michael Bennett to say that but someone who purports to be a progressive who claims that she's on our side To laugh This should make it very clear to everyone It's Bernie It's always been Bernie because let me remind you that during Donald Trump's state of the union When he declared that America will never be a socialist nation Elizabeth Warren stood up and applauded him. She stood up and she applauded that fascist It's always been Bernie Regardless if he wins or if he loses we will all look back at this moment Historians will see that Bernie Sanders was the one ticket out From the pain and economic anxiety That everyone is experiencing Bernie Sanders was the one person Who would serve as the antithesis? To fascism and right wing demagoguery So again, if you Didn't take my advice and watch, you know, the full speech Do yourself the favor and watch the full speech Bernie Sanders lays it all out as clear as day He knows exactly what to do to get our country on track What he does in America could reverberate around the world other countries could emulate his style of democratic socialism even if it's not technically democratic socialism and it is More accurately described as you know social democracy still Bernie Sanders Is the one person Who can actually get us on the right trajectory? So are you going to go with someone? Who's only progressive when it's politically expedient like Elizabeth Warren. Are you going to go with someone? who Assumes that label Only because they know that they need to win an election Or are you going to go with someone who's telling you Clear as day I want to be the next FDR. We saw what he did. I want to do that for you Help me help you The choice is clear It's got to be bernie